Between the Walls
by The Imperfect Me
Summary: Maybe there's more between the walls of Pein and Sakura. In a modern world, Pein and Sakura suffer together in an asylum, discovering and revealing more of their crossed past together. Rated T PeinSaku
1. Lies Insanity

**Author's Note:** I'm back after a long time resting and dealing through a shit load of stress and the usual high school teenage drama. Anyways, this story will probably remain short but with many chapters, or long with little chapters—however I feel like. I hope you enjoy!

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 1 – Lies Insanity _

White. The color burst her vision and sent shivers up her spine as she heard nothing but pure silence and the rhythmic puffs of her own breathing. She slowly moved into a sitting position in the furthest corner she could find in the white room. She couldn't speak, her throat hurt too much, but all she could remember was a needle piercing through her skin, sedating her and sending her into a world of her own nightmares and paranoia struck her thoughts. Here, she had nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. Nothing could harm her in her own perfect little white world. She looked down at her clammy pale hands and saw a shocking flash of bright pink fill her vision. Was that her hair? Pink? That color that atrociously invades her vision forced the fear to come back. Her breathing grew ragged as she tried to scream, but nothing came out. Clutching her head and pulling at her pink locks, she fell into a world of terror. Trapped in her world of light and coldness, she knew nothing about the room next to hers.

* * *

Black. He could clearly see the color as he opened his eyes, but saw nothing but darkness. He heard nothing but his own breathing and the dripping of water possibly from the ceiling. He didn't remember a thing before entering this shadow-like world. He rubbed his eyes, but still saw the dark. Rubbing them and blinking them hard, he opened his eyes once again to only face the color black. Had he gone blind? Possibly blinded by fear? He shook his head but stood up wearily and walked around slowly, shivering once every so often he stepped in a cold puddle of something wet. It must've been the water leaking from up above. He felt weak all of a sudden from just a few steps and forced himself to sit down on the dirty ground again. He breathed out, clearly hearing his breath puff out and started to give a low hum for a quick second. He couldn't see, but could hear, speak, and move. Maybe things might not be so bad. In this darkness, he wouldn't have to face _it_. He couldn't have to face the world, the rotting people within the world, the insecurities it all held. In his own world of darkness and security, he knew nothing of the room next to his.

* * *

The platinum blonde haired woman carefully viewed at the two television screens that both monitored her patients, her experiment—her lab rats. They were both labeled as legally insane and psychotic in different ways. One of them adorned with odd pink hair was named Sakura, her fear only consisted of paranoia and of the future. The other with spiky flaming orange hair and many piercings grew a bad history of gang fights held a deep fear of reality itself.

"Tsunade-shishou," Shizune, the psychologist's assistant muttered quietly, "shouldn't you be taking notes on their behavior for the sake of this experiment?"

Tsunade just shook her head, "The way they are acting now is completely… natural. It's only when they start acting normal is when we all must start to worry." She started blankly at the brightly colored screen with a pink blob, and then switched to a night-vision screen showing a young man discovering his own surroundings through the sense of touch and feeling. This would sure be interesting.

**Author's Note:** I've always been interested in the topic of insanity or anything psychological… Thought I'd try and bring that into my stories (: Reviews make me update faster and gives me ideas! Flames… I don't care so much about them—fire away! Criticism is definitely needed! Thanks you for reading (and reviewing). Reviews keep this story going from not dying D:


	2. He Speaks

**Author's Note:** Thanks for all the alerts and favorites! Boy was I shocked when I saw I got one review! I mean, I've had other accounts back then where I wrote chapters day and night and got tons of reviews, but now? It's like no one reviews anymore :( Anyways, enough of my rambling—enjoy this chapter! Thank you _**AkatsukiXSakura**_ for being the first reviewer of this story!

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 2 – He Speaks_

It had to be at least a week since both of their arrivals in the asylum, their sanctuaries. Tsunade was no more than frustrated with the slow results of the experiment. They responded well with food; however Sakura showed a strong dislike to eggplants just like how Pein showed allergic reactions to peanuts from swelling to rashes on his skin that faded away fairly quickly. Sakura remained in the same corner for quite a while, but would often venture off into the opposite corner further back of the room. Strangely enough, Pein would do the same. He would stay in the same corner, and simultaneously he would slowly move to that same corner. Tsunade took note of the strange behavior and similar habits.

* * *

Sakura had grown accustomed her strange pink hair, though she still hated it. The color defeated the purpose of her white world. Shivering, she slowly crawled back into the furthest corner for the room and sat there. Forgetting how to walk, she had learned to crawl. There was very little space to crawl in the room anyways. That corner made her feel warmer than usual, it was a nice kind of warm. She licked her dry lips and stared at her pale feet, starting to wonder why it felt so warm. She couldn't speak, but turned around and place a small porcelain hand against the white wall and gave a gentle smile, as if saying thank you.

The walls were thin between them; however it was also sturdy and strong. The walls were their protective barriers. It shielded them from harm, but also kept each other apart.

On the other side of the wall, Pein sat in the same corner of Sakura, back to back against the wall and smiled at its heat protruding. He closed his eyes and learned that whether or not he closed his eyes there would still be darkness surrounding him. He had found a sharp pebble while walking around and used it to keep track of the days by scratching tally marks against the walls and floor. It had probably been about a week or so, but he couldn't complain about getting out soon. In fact, he wanted to stay. The place had given him nothing but everything he wished for: shelter from the outside world, away from reality, food, and the incentive of warmth from this here corner. He opened his eyes again, to remember a flashback of his past life outside this little world of safety.

* * *

_Flames invaded his eyes as screams could be heard. He could hear his name being called—being screamed. A flash of pink invaded his eyes as he tried to kick open the wooden opaque door, gun in hand and a dagger in the other. "Everyone put your hands up. Don't move or I'll do something you will all regret." He spoke, the foul words coming out of his mouth. "Hidan, Sasori, Kakuzu, take what we need only and we'll be leaving." He watched as the frightened citizens stared at his pierced face, then at the symbol of a red cloud stitched at the upper sleeve of his left black jacket. _

"_It's the Akatsuki..." Someone frighteningly whispered, but automatically went silent as soon as the person felt the gun cocked towards their head. _

"_I said quiet." He muttered and quickly disappeared as soon as he saw the burlap sacks all filled up. The last thing he saw was a vivid image of a young woman near his age with jade green eyes staring at him with hate and murder._

_

* * *

_

Pein gasped, what was that? Was that him holding the gun? Who was that girl? He wiped his eyes and shook his head, "I'm in my own world of darkness now. There is nothing to fear." He muttered softly to himself. "That person isn't me. I've always lived here and I always will."

Between the wall, Sakura's head perked up to hear a deep voice speaking. It sounded desperate, cold, and lonely. For the rest of that day and night, she sat there still, listening to his words and prayers. Who was that on the other side of the wall? 

**Author's Note:** I just got so many ideas now for this story it all rushed into my head and now I'm going to put it into action! One review fueled me enough to type up this chapter, now let's see how many reviews I'll get for this chapter. (: I'll tell you one thing though: Pein is starting to regain his memories whereas Sakura still lost hers. Review please!


	3. Is Communication

**Author's Note:** Alright, I'll admit it—I've gotten so lazy lately. I'm asking too much for getting at least five reviews :( Patience is the key… So here's the thing, I've got to go to bed in less than thirty minutes because school starts to tomorrow and I have god damn fluffin' 0 period PE (yeah, sucks I know) in the freezing cold California morning…

Thanks to SakuraXAkatsuki, XxCatalinaxX, and InnerCookie for keeping this fanfiction going!

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 3 – Is Communication_

The past few weeks have been pure bliss for both Sakura and Pein. She was the listener, he was the talker. For the past week, the orange haired young man had been slowly regaining memory of his past. However, they were neither very good nor very bad… He could remember glimpses of faces, guns, knives, laughter, smiles, but the thing that kept reoccurring in his thoughts was that pastel colored pink and jade orbs that stared down into his inner soul. Those green eyes penetrated his being and made him feel awful. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" His eyes widened as he could see the shocking green come back to invade his thoughts.

Behind his wall, was hers. Sakura blinked and placed a warm hand against that corner. She heard faint apologies that just kept running through her ear drums. She bit her lip and her throat tightened as she tapped the wall. At first, the apologies from the boy kept streaming out of his mouth, never ceasing until she gave a louder tap. This apparently caught his attention as it became silent once again. Sakura was surprised at the outcome of her tapping and gleefully gave the wall two taps.

On the other side, Pein blinked miraculously. There was someone else behind this wall? Did he or she live in the same sanctuary as hers? But of course not… He or she must be living somewhere else, beyond his world… Why could he hear him or her then? "Who's there…?" There was silence. He sat there and thought through things again and bit his lip, maybe the person couldn't speak. "Tap once for yes and twice for no." He muttered at the dark wall. "Are you a boy?"

Sakura was thrilled to receive some attention from the male behind her wall. Listening carefully to the question he had asked her, she tapped the wall twice. She was certainly no boy! Maybe, just maybe she could possibly meet this interesting figure… He only spoke of reassurance, hope, and safety in his own dark little world. It gave her hope that someday she would find out what was outside of her own world. She waited quietly for his next question which was, "Do you live in the dark too like me?" He lived in the dark? How awful… She pitied him and gave two slow taps in response to her sympathy.

Pein was shocked to find out that who he was communicating with was a girl! A _girl_. For some odd reason, he felt nervous but the nervousness left automatically when he found out that she didn't live in the same darkness he did. She lived in the **light**. "Are… Are you…" He bit his lip, unsure how to phrase his question. "Are you in heaven…?" He muttered, hoping she could hear his ridiculous question. If she was in heaven, the city of light, then he must be in his own dark hell. Funny, hell should be much… warmer than this.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at that question, unsure how to answer it. There was an awkward silence for a good five minutes until the boy replied, "If you don't know then tap three times… My bad." She smiled and gave gleeful three taps. From the other side, she could hear a nervous chuckle that was also full of relief. Of course… He couldn't be dead. Not yet.

Seconds ticked by and soon the minutes turned into hours as Pein kept giving her questions in exchange for the silent answers. By the end of the day, he learned that she was a girl, she was not dead, she lived in a room of white, she didn't know how to walk or speak, and that she also didn't remember how she ended up in her white prison. Soon enough, he grew tired, and as did she. Yawning, the orange haired young man laid down by the corner, muttering so she could hear, "Good night… Tenshi-san." To him, the girl behind this wall was an angel, hence his nickname to her. She listened, answered his questions, and her presence made him warm and secure, just like an angel should do.

The pink haired girl's jade eyes gleamed at her new nickname. Now that she thought of it, she only remembered her first name: Sakura. Did she have a last name? Where was her family? Where exactly IS she? Was she safe in here? Who was watching over her? Who was the one sending her food? So many questions invaded her thoughts that insomnia took over question-filled head. Restless, she just closed her eyes and attempted answering her questions herself.

* * *

Jotting down three pages of notes, Tsunade heaved a sigh and took out a sake bottle hidden underneath her drawer. There was a ton of communication between the two that she had never thought would ever happen. The only thing she wanted to achieve from this experiment was how these two would last in two different environments due to their mental state.

Shizune walked into the room and screeched as soon as she took a whiff of the strong alcohol, "Tsunade-sensei! You can't be drinking in a place like this! This is absolutely inappropriate!" She scolded and quickly took away the empty sake bottle from the desk, leaving the room to dispose of the trash.

The blonde sighed and shook her head, smirking as she pulled open her lower drawer and grabbed another bottle of sake. When will her apprentice and assistant ever learn that she'll never stop drinking and gambling? As soon as the onyx haired woman walked in again to see another sake bottle Tsunade just chuckled as Shizune left, screaming in frustration.

**Author's Note:** I hope you all enjoyed this! (: The next chapter will be a BIG change in the environment they're both in now. I appreciate my reviewers and readers. My apologies for the slow update! Like I said, the more reviews, the better~


	4. Are Upside Down Worlds

**Author's Note:** Ah~ I was so happy to see two brand new reviewers! (: Hmm, any suggestions as to get some more reviewers? Please help me get some more reviews!

Thanks to SakuraXAkatsuki, XxCatalinaxX, InnerCookie and diaoc5 for the encouragement!

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 4 – Are Upside Worlds_

A month had passed by rather quickly—almost too quickly—for Tsunade to notice behavior changes in both of them. Sakura and Pein rarely left the corner. They would communicate with each other in some way, and oddly enough Pein was starting to regain some of his memories. She had tried to regain some of Sakura's memories back with having some of her friends visit her such as Hyuuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino. However, they both proved useless since the terrified pink haired girl would only give silent screams and have a fit, slamming her hands against the wall. Tsunade yanked at her hair as she carefully studied the television screens that monitored both Pein and Sakura. Just what were they thinking about…? Suddenly, an idea clicked in her mind. It was highly risky; however she would take a chance and see how they would react to new environments.

* * *

Yawning, the orange haired boy woke up, feeling his normal questionable self. He slowly opened his eyes to meet a flash of white everywhere. Had he finally gone insane? Psychotic? Wasn't he blind? Quickly squeezing his eyes shut again, he rubbed the tears away from his eyes and almost indolently opened his eyes to meet the stunning shade of white. Shivers ran down his spine, as if someone had been here before… A room of white… Room of white… "Tenshi-san?" he called out, remembering that the girl he communicated with lived in a world of white. "Tenshi-san?" he grew more panicked as he quickly stood up, feeling the blood rush to his head and staggered a bit before wandering around the small white room. Where was his angel?

Sakura's jade green eyes widened when she saw nothing but darkness. Where was her white world? Where was her safety? Where was her white _home_? The thought of the boy possibly being here the way he had described it long before never occurred to her as she just crawled, her hands, feet and knees getting scratched up by the sharp pebbles on the ground. Soon enough, she reached the corner she would usually go to in her white world and felt around the cool dark room in her spot. She could feel scratch marks all over, and soon realized that these were tally marks… Tally marks of the days someone has spent suffering in here, cooped in such a dark place. Soon enough, she heard her nickname being screamed out from the other side of this wall… Her green eyes widened as she remembered warmth from her past. It was an intense type of heat that lashed onto her skin. The memory kept replaying itself over and over, as if her thoughts were trying to force her to remember, but soon enough, she screamed as loud as she could, hugging herself close, away from the memory.

Pein's eyes widened at the scream and quickly turned around a hundred-eighty degrees to hear the scream of his angel. "Tenshi-san…" He felt oddly calm and slowly walked over to the special warm corner and sat down, absorbing the warmth and hugged his knees as he felt an odd sensation of guilt take over him and tears began to form around his eyes. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" He repeated, hoping this foreign feeling would go away and that she would stop screaming.

Sakura couldn't stop screaming, her voice soon grew tired and weary and her lungs started to ache. Soon, she passed out due to lack of oxygen for she kept shouting. Her thoughts were dark and empty just like it was in the new prison she must grow accustomed to.

Pein heard the screaming stop, and almost immediately, he felt himself get sucked back into the past of his thoughts and memories.

* * *

"_Bitch. Do as I say or you die." Hidan sneered as he pointed his loaded gun at a whore he picked up off the streets. Pein rolled his eyes, disgusted at both of them; at the terrified brunette that started undressing, and at Hidan for picking such a low-life. "Ne, Pein-san, you going to join?" the religious man tilted his head towards their leader, smirking but never taking his lavender eyes off of the naked woman. _

_Pein only shook his head, scoffing, "I have better things to do than to fuck sluts. When you're done dump her body in some other city." He muttered and quickly left the room. Usually he wasn't so foul-mouthed but in cases where he had to deal with Hidan and his antics, he couldn't bear them and let his language loose. He quickly changed jackets into a nicer gray one that didn't have the Akatsuki symbol stitched on. Underneath the jacket we wore a simple black dress shirt and regular dark blue jeans, all his piercings still intact. He pulled up his hoodie so as not to attract so much attention to him as he walked out of the rusty old abandoned building and headed to look for the other Akatsuki members around the city. _

_In less than twenty minutes of walking down the busy streets, he felt a girl run passed him, their shoulders roughly bumping into each other and as he winced and turned around, he saw a girl with shoulder-length pink hair and vivid emerald eyes. Her appearance seemed haggard, as if she were running away from something in fright. "Sorry!" she called out to him as she kept on running, not even bothering to turn around. _

_Pein grew suspicious of her behavior and walked away quickly without replying to her apology; she was far away now anyways. Soon, flames invaded his eyes and widened when he saw the apartment building of where Deidara, another loyal Akatsuki member, lived start to burn down. The fire trucks were scattered everywhere as policemen and firefighters tried putting out the fire and escorting the residents that got out to leave the area. The panicked man looked around for a feminine blonde haired male, but he saw none. "Damn it Deidara…" He growled as he ran passed the police and into the burning building._

_

* * *

_

Pein gasped as his vision was over, though however it made no sense to him… The pink haired girl kept appearing in most of his memories, and he wished to know her name, how she played such an important role in his life. Thoughts consumed him and soon, he no longer wished to stay in his safe world. He wanted to meet this female figure.

**Author's Note:** I hope you enjoyed this! (: If you're wondering about if Sakura will ever regain her memories back, she will… Just patience my little readers and reviewers! In time, there will be an answer to all of this. I have everything planned out, although I'm trying not to rush to conclusions myself. Please _review_! I update faster with more reviewers! Thank you for reading/reviewing! If there are any suggestions on how to spread the word of this PeinSaku fanfiction, please do tell. My goal is to reach at least 30 reviews by chapter 15!


	5. Is Silence

**Author's Note:** Wow… I'm so sorry for abandoning this for such a long time. I've just read some reviews I've received, and the four chapters that have been put up. I can still remember where I wanted this story to go and I plan on finishing it. This story is going to be slow, but that's because the point is to show development, so when you return back to the first chapter, you'll realize how much they've progressed. Please bear with me and I deeply apologize for the delay! Thanks a bunch to those who are still loyally following this story and for those new readers!

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 5 – Is Silence_

After a couple days of confinement within their new worlds, the two have grown accustomed and accepted of the change of environment much to Tsunade's dismay. She was hoping for something miraculous to happen, but her patience was beginning to grow thin with the lack of progress she expected. Both her test subjects were beginning to interact with each other once again. Each time the platinum blonde would see the pink haired girl's lips part, she wanted to hear at least a word, or something protrude from her mouth other than screams, but silence always ensued.

Her assistant only gave her teacher a sympathetic smile, "Patience Tsunade-sensei. They're like children. You need to have patience with them." Shizune gently set down a glass of water for her teacher, knowing that she must have a hangover. "There are also some visitors waiting for both Sakura and Pein. Shall we bring them in?"

Tsunade only glanced at the glass of water before pushing it aside and settled on rubbing her temples, thinking the pressure would help soothe her headache, "Only one at a time."

* * *

During the few days in the dark world, Sakura had started scratching her own markings into the wall closest to the warm corner. She rested her back against the warm corner again and couldn't help but feel the tug of her lips upwards as she heard the warmth from the other side of the wall speak to her, often asking her questions and she would respond with the usual tapping. More often than not, he would always ask if she was still there despite the warmth of the corner never leaving. She would respond with a gentle tap, in answering yes.

For the longest time, the rosette wanted to ask what his name was, and wanted to tell him her real name but she still didn't understand the concept of speaking. She gently touched the rough wall, using her sense of touch and felt the radiating warmth. Something about his voice brought her to peace, despite the shift in worlds.

"Tenshi-san, are you still there?" she heard his voice followed by a light yawn. She softly knocked on the wall, signaling him her presence. "Good… I'm getting tired Tenshi-san. Promise me you won't… you won't leave." Never before had Sakura heard such need in his voice and it pained her that she couldn't speak a word, but she settled for responding with a single tap. With that promise made, there was the silence of slumber.

Just as Sakura was about to drift off and let the comfort of the dark consume her, a small flash of light entered her vision as she immediately dropped her head into her knees and shielded herself from the blinding rays as it closed again, and almost automatically, a light began to shine down on her and the room, lighting the black painted stone walls.

What was going on? Her wide jade eyes quickly adjusted to the newfound light and began darting quickly around the black painted room, seeing the many white marks made before by the boy on the other side. Her eyes then rested on a tall figure standing, wearing a lot of purple and in black heels. Who was this stranger?

* * *

Yamanaka Ino slowly stepped into the cold dark room and winced slightly as the lights flashed on to see a head full of pink hair sitting in the corner right before her. Her sky blue eyes began to blur as tears began to build up. The sight was too much for her, seeing her friend all pale, thin, and dressed in a dirtied white gown and her tangled pink hair grown far too long past her hips and touching the floor where she sat.

"Sakura-chan…" Ino whispered softly as she gave her friend a sad look, slowly stepping forward into the room. The sound of her black heels clicking against the floor was enough to make Sakura's jade eyes widen further and shrink back into the corner. The look of fright in her eyes was enough to set the tears free from Ino's own eyes. "What happened to you…?" There was silence. "Please…? Talk to me."

There was a static crackle in her left ear where Tsunade had every visitor put in a microphone headpiece in order to communicate with and for safety purposes. "Sakura is still unable to speak. I wouldn't go near her any further. You've already reached her comfort zone." Tsunade's voice quickly dissipated as Ino inwardly nodded at the information given to her.

Ino crouched down, her dark blue skinny jeans stretching with her and her knees slightly popping from the sudden movement as she held her hand out to Sakura, "It's your friend, Ino." She slowly began beckoning Sakura out of the corner but to no success.

* * *

With a soft and silent yawn, the orange haired man had finally awoken from his slumber only to hear another voice. Was it in his world? No. It was from the girl on the other side. His oddly colored eyes widened and shifted suddenly, pressing his ear against the wall to listen closely to hear, _"It's your friend, Ino."_

Pein hastily pressed both hands against the corner to still feel the warmth. She was still there. The thought slowly sunk into his head and relief blew him over as he let out a soft sigh, hearing nothing but silence and the other voice in the room. He wasn't sure it was his Tenshi talking to him, but he had a feeling it wasn't her; however something about that voice and the name 'Ino' rang a bell to him.

"Tenshi-san…? Are you still there?" he called out, settling back down in his corner.

* * *

Sakura's wide eyes gleamed as soon as she heard that same smooth voice of the boy next door. She gleefully tapped the wall, completely ignoring Ino at the moment.

"Who…" The blonde's eyes widened visibly, her frown deepening as soon as she heard that recognizable voice. "You…" Rage filled her as realization dawned onto her. They were keeping **him** in the other room next to Sakura's. Her neatly manicured fingers clenched tightly into a fist as she quickly stood up and stomped towards Sakura who was completely unaware of the angered blonde. "We're going. You don't belong here. Not anywhere near that **disgrace** of a man." She growled, grabbing a hold of the shocked girl's wrists and attempted to drag her away from the corner.

Static crackled, "Yamanaka-san! Let go of her this INSTANT." Tsunade shouted over the commotion.

Sakura screeched, trying to pull away from Ino, afraid and remembered the promise of staying by the boy's side in the corner. She violently started clawing at the black walls, panting heavily as she tried resisting this stranger's vice grip.

Pein's eyes narrowed as he could hear whatever was happening to the girl on the other side. There was clearly another person in there with her trying to take her away as he automatically felt the warmth leave his side. He quickly stood up and began punching the white walls angrily, "Let her go!" He needed to see her. The need filled his angry eyes as it soon transformed into desperation. "Don't hurt her!" he began pleading, seeing red stain on the white walls, his knuckles beginning to bloody as he kept on punching against the wall. He _needed_ to help her

Ino growled at the demands of the man on the other side and the pounding she heard, "'Don't hurt her'? _You_ leave her alone you bastard! Haven't you hurt her enough?" She kept dragging Sakura further away from the corner and towards the door, ripping the earpiece away from her ears and threw it to the ground.

* * *

In another room, Tsunade's hazel eyes narrowed at the blonde's rash actions, her hands folded together and rested her chin on top of her folded hands as she watched the scene unleash itself. Her voice grew serious as she muttered out loud, brown eyes never leaving the television screens, "Shizune, get security now."

Her dark haired assistant rushed off without confirming or bowing in respect, and within minutes Tsunade could see Ino struggling against two men on the television screen, and on the other screen, she could see Pein still desperately pounding the walls, yelling at the attackers next door to not hurt his companion.

* * *

Sakura's wrists began to bruise as the blonde's grip tightened while they were both being pulled by these strange men dressed in all black. What was going on? Why couldn't she just stay by the corner where it was warm and safe? Why couldn't people just leave her _alone_? Didn't she want to be alone from the very start? It wasn't until she heard the male speak from the other wall was when she no longer felt the loneliness and solitude she wanted from the very start.

The screams, the grunts of the strange men trying to pull the two away, and the blue eyed female's shrieks was all too much for Sakura. With her free hand, she gripped her head, fingers entangled in her long pastel hair that hung in front of her face. Her jade eyes grew dark, _"Stop it."_

Almost immediately, the room was stunned into silence and froze, almost as if the pink haired girl before them had the power to stop the world and time. Ino's sad blue eyes blurred again from tears that threatened to fall as she inaudibly whispered, "Sakura…" She had finally spoken.

**Author's Note: **I hope I didn't rush this chapter all too much. If anyone is confused as to what happened, please tell me so I can clear things up! Review please (: I see that I've gotten a LOT of hits, favourites and alerts on this, so please do review.

**NOTE: _Things may seem confusing now, but what happened between Sakura, Ino, Pein, etc. will be cleared as the story continues. Thanks for your patience.**_


	6. Memories Emerge

**Author's Note:** A HUGE enormous thank you to _**PeinSaku**_ for being such a great support! Go check out her fanfiction! (:

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 6 – Memories Emerge_

Days after the dilemma that ensued in the dark room, Tsunade began to grow frustrated with getting absolutely nothing out of Sakura. She was almost going to call this experiment a failure due to the previous long blonde haired girl's encounter, but instead took her frustration out on alcohol. Bottles filled the desk area where there should be papers and notes instead.

Shizune's dark eyes narrowed at the cluttered mess in her teacher's work space. Shaking her head in disapproval, she set down a glass of water along with ibuprofen tablets next to the hung over woman. "You better start shaping up Tsunade-sensei. He expects results soon."

A low guttural growl came from Tsunade, "Do not mention that man. I took up this project on myself—volunteered. Him having to fund this project has no influence on me, and besides… I can't control when the two test subjects are going to show progress, or show anything." Quickly swallowing the pain relieving pills, she heaved a sigh, slowly glancing back up at the television screens. She had respectively placed them back in their original rooms; Sakura in the white, and Pein in the black one. "Sedate Sakura and put her on a feeding tube again. She's not eating. She hasn't even been sitting in that corner…"

* * *

Back in her white, peaceful world, the pink haired young woman no longer claimed it as tranquil as she thought she did before. That blonde woman's actions and words had bore a mark in Sakura that she couldn't describe. What could she mean by those foul words? She had called her companion on the other side a **disgrace**. The woman claimed to be her friend. A person should stick to their friend's advice and words… right?

"Tenshi-san…? Are you there?" her companion's voice sounded muffled through the walls now that she sat on the opposite end of the white room. There was silence, no movement. Why should she answer him? She hadn't been answering him for the past couple days. She didn't even know this stranger's name or what he looked like. It was almost like he was hiding himself behind this barrier of a wall. "Please… I'm sorry… I'm sorry." His plea was heard clearly through the wall. She soon grew to hate those words: _I'm sorry_.

Two men hesitantly approached the dazed rosette, unaware of her deep thought process as they swiftly sedated her, watching her slowly lull to a peaceful slumber as they took her out of the room.

* * *

_Light jade eyes fluttered open and within an instant, Sakura sat straight up in bed. Stars danced in her vision as it quickly faded away, signaling her to get up and start the day. Thursday, June 12__th__. That's right, just yesterday she graduated with her master's degree in criminal psychology. She stared into an-all-too-real mirror that easily revealed the deep bags under her eyes. Pursing her lips at her own reflection, she shrugged it off. It showed her years of dedicated studying and research for the subject. _

_**Brrrrrrrrring! Brr**__—"Hurro?" she picked up the phone in one hand, the other brushing her teeth. _

_ A loud all too familiar voice resonated her small room, "Sakura-chan! We're having a graduation party over at the Hyuuga's in celebration of… well… finally being done with school!" _

_She smiled at her friend's excitement, quietly spitting and rinsing out the excess minty toothpaste from her mouth. "I'll think about it Naruto, okay?" she replied, walking into her miniature kitchen. Slipping two slices of whole-wheat bread into the toaster, she sat herself down at the white counter. _

_Naruto huffed through the phone, "But… It's a __**party**_**.** _It's going to be fun!" _

"_You're talking to the wrong girl if you're trying to bribe me by telling me it's a party. Try the pig." She snickered, hearing her toast pop up from the toaster. "Look Naruto, I've got things planned today like meeting with Ibiki-sensei to discuss a possibility with working with him and his interrogation force, or perhaps something bigger. My answer is _maybe_, okay? Okay. Bye Naruto!"She smiled at the phone as she heard Naruto's desperate hurried pleas before she hung up on him. _

_The smell of something burnt crept up her nostrils as her alerted eyes darted around the room for any hazards or dangers that caused the horrid stench. Her eyes laid eyes on her two slices of toast. They weren't burnt. Her vision ventured off towards the opened window of her apartment building and sighed. Her neighborhood right next to her room was legally labeled as a rehabilitated pyromaniac. "'Rehabilitated' my ass," she rolled her eyes, shutting her window to prevent the stench from spreading anymore into her room._

* * *

Jade eyes slowly rolled open, vision blurred as she saw people in white suits surrounding her body on something cushiony. It was hard to breathe, so she settled for breathing through her mouth. Rolling her head gently from side to side, she tried to clear her blurred vision to get a better look of where she was.

"Blood pressure is 120, normal." A voice from her left spoke gently.

"Pupils are dilated." Another voice came from her right. "She's starting to become conscious."

Her head slowly began to sway from one side to another, attempting to figure out what was going on. The rocking sensation soon put her back into a coma-like sleep.

* * *

_ It was that putrid odor again, but this time stronger and more profound. Sakura glanced at her closed window and raised a pink eyebrow. Shaking her head, she scratched the back of her head, fingers entangled in her shoulder-length pink hair. She'd ignore it like always. Don't people who live around always? Last time someone complained about the smell to her neighbor, he threw a hissy fit. The man was obviously high from whatever he was smoking or lighting in that home of his. _

_ She glanced down at the time that read 15:42. It was almost 4 in the afternoon. She still had some time to spare to make it to Naruto's graduation party that was being held at his girlfriend's home. Stretching from her seat in the living room, she plopped down on the smooth L-shaped black couch, propping her feet up on the extended part and sighed. She _could_ go to the party, but she wasn't sure if she even wanted to, as stated by her laziness. _

_ Her yawn didn't have to tell her twice to take a long deserved nap. She had until 6 to be at the Hyuuga's mansion anyways. A nap didn't sound so bad._

* * *

"Set her down gently." Tsunade ordered as she unlocked the door to enter the rosette's white world, allowing her workers to place Sakura's unconscious body into the room. As the workers left, Tsunade couldn't help but give the girl a sympathetic look before slowly moving her light body towards the corner where she normally sat, back against the warm wall. "Such a mess you've become…" she quickly tucked a long pink strand of hair behind Sakura's pale ears before leaving her to rest.

* * *

_The heat was getting too intense. She groaned, shifting around uncomfortably on the couch from the unbearable heat. Soon enough, her sense got the better of her and woke her up in a quick jolt. Jade eyes widened as smoke began billowing in from under her doorway. Her instincts began working as she quickly covered her mouth and took minimal breaths of oxygen while running towards the ashy colored door. She had to get out. _

_ Quickly grabbing part of her tatami door mat off the floor, Sakura quickly used it to shield her hands from the scorching hot doorknob, opening it to reveal a vivid burst of orange, red and yellow engulfing her vision and licking at her skin. What was going on…? The fire quickly spread into her room as she escaped into the burning hallways, running as low as she could to avoid the smoke building up above her. _

_ As she almost reached the entrance, her feet tripped over what appeared to be a body. She quickly got back up to see the body was her pyromaniac neighbor's. His long blonde hair spilled everywhere on the ashy floor, untied from its usual high ponytail, long bangs spread apart to reveal red blistered skin on his left side of his face from the flames and disaster he had caused. He slowly opened his one currently usable blue eye, "H-Help, un…" _

_ Sakura quickly knelt by his side, despite him being the cause of this terror, she couldn't leave him, but seeing as his body was too heavy for her to carry, she had to get help instead. Her jade eyes frantically searched his face for any sign of advice or guidance. There was none as the man before her passed out. _

_ She quickly stood up, pulling her pink hair in fear as she ran from the body, yelling back at him as if he could hear. "I'm getting help! I'll be back!" _

_ At last, light dawned upon her singed hair that was now a darker shade of pastel pink as she ran passed one of the shocked firemen. She quickly approached a group of unharmed survivors, terror overriding her system as she kept on pointing back at the building, "There's a man back there! He needs __**help**__." _

_ A firefighter overhearing this nodded at Sakura to announce this newfound news to the other firemen. "Miss, we'll get your friend out soon, just sta—" _

_ "__**No**__. He's _not_ my friend." Her dirtied face contorted into pain, confusion and hurt at what she was going to lose: her home, her only shelter and little world of peace—gone. "I… I have to go." And with that, she ran off from the scene, not caring if she was only in a now filthy white tank top and torn plaid green pajama bottoms. _

_ Ignoring the people's pleas of staying and getting medical help, she took off to run from her now nightmare. Where she was running, she didn't know and she didn't care, as long as she didn't ever return there again. _

_**'If you run around the world, you return to the same place. You'll always return.'**__ A voice in her thoughts reminded her of harsh reality. _

_ Her shoulder roughly bumped into someone walking passed her in the opposite direction, interrupting her from her sudden realization. "Sorry!" she shouted, not bothering to glance at who the person was and kept running from the scene. She saw in her peripheral vision that whoever she bumped into, had shocking orange hair hidden underneath the hoodie he wore, and oddly enough, a lot of piercings on his face._

* * *

Pein bit his lip gently, huddling in the warmth of the corner that he never left since what happened a couple days ago. His angel wasn't responding, but he felt relieved that someone in there had placed her back in the corner where she was supposed to be. He knew that as soon as she was awake, she would just move away again. In the mean time, he'd savor the warmth her body produced. Eyes began to droop as he soon gave away to the sandman.

* * *

_ Pein glared through the flames of the burning building. His idiotic so-called 'friend' always somehow managed to get in these sorts of trouble. If it weren't for the pink-haired girl running so frantically passed him earlier, he would've never ventured off towards the burning building. "Deidara!" he cried out, only to hear the roar of orange and red and to feel the burning pain. _

_ Almost instantly, he spotted the long yellow hair that belonged to his feminine male friend. Quickly running after him and avoiding the collapsing ceiling, he knelt down by him, pressing two fingers by his neck, feeling a faint pulse. His gaze turned hard at the unconscious man, swiftly picking him up and swinging him over his shoulders, finding another way out. _

"_Deidara you stupid dimwit," he muttered._

* * *

As the memory began to fade, the door to Pein's dark world began to open. Learning quickly, he covered his oddly ringed eyes from the blinding lights that soon began to follow. The door was shut again and as his eyes began to adjust to the lighting, never leaving the corner.

"Who are you?" he shouted, curling up in the corner. He prayed it wasn't that god awful shrieking woman again.

The loud and threatening voice protruding from her companion's side of the wall had shocked Sakura from her slumber, making her realize that she was back in the warm corner again. Her jade eyes grew dark at her location in the room and just as she was about to move, she heard her companion speak again, but this time it wasn't directed towards her.

_"You… What're you doing here?"_ His voice was so venomous, it made her flinch at the sharp edge he had in his tone. What was happening?

The next voice soon became horribly familiar to Sakura, _"I'm hurt… It's been a while, un."_

**Author's Note:** Phew, I spent a total of four hours writing this straight. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Once again, a big thanks to _**PeinSaku**_ for just being kind of really awesome!

Feedback is lovely, and it helps keep up my motivation as well as make me a better writer. Any feedback at this point would be absolutely fantastic (:

Any predictions of what's going to happen?


	7. Is Peace

**Author's Note: **As said by a great author, Ray Bradbury, in order to become a successful writer, you shouldn't write for anyone but yourself. So, I'll continue writing this for myself—but you know… Reviews are always fantastic and do encourage me to keep going. (: Hope this is starting click to you guys about what's going on—the puzzle pieces are fitting together O:**  
**

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 7 – Is Peace_

There was no doubt about it that there was definitely tension rising between the orange haired man and the feminine looking one. Pein had not left the corner ever since they had been put back into their original worlds of white and black. It all began to click to him, that all those visions he had been having—they were all memories of his old past. This blonde haired man, standing right in front of him had played a large role as well if he had appeared in his dreams countless times.

"Deidara," the name rolled easily off his deep baritone voice and pierced tongue, "What are you doing here?" Pein began to repeat his questions, and if the man named Deidara knew better, he shouldn't have to repeat it again.

The pyromaniac smirked, "Friends cannot visit each other? Besides, you saved my life. I owe you mine." He began walking towards the man he called friend. "And because I strongly dislike owing anyone anything or being in debt… I have a proposition for you." The blonde leaned down close to Pein's ear, expertly shutting off the microphone headpiece he was ordered to wear by the researchers.

Before he could say anything, Pein shoved Deidara away from his comfort zone and corner, feeling threatened already, "I don't care. You owe me nothing. Now be gone."

"You might not care but the gang needs you back. _We_ need you back. Everything is now being run by Uchiha Madara and his objectives and goals are much different than ours." Deidara narrowed his sky blue eyes. He was beginning to grow desperate. Ever since what happened to his ex-leader, things back with the Akatsuki was just not the same after Madara claimed full leadership.

Lost, confused and put under pressure, Pein quickly clutched his head and gritted his teeth, hearing them grind together and shut his ringed eyes as tightly as he could. "I told you already, just _go away_. I don't know what you're talking about. Akatsuki? Madara? Just please…" He groaned as his head began to ache.

Deidara was about to yell in protest until he slowly saw his former leader begin to crumble down. Never before had he ever seen Pein in such a weak, vulnerable and defenseless state. He almost felt guilty. "Do you… Do you even remember what our goals were?" his voice grew quiet as he began walking over to the unused bed lying near the corner Pein sat in.

"Goals…? I do not." Pein slowly began to release the tight grip he had on his head and began relaxing a bit, seeing Deidara sitting on the untouched bed.

The blue-eyed man gave a small gentle smile, his fingers slowly tracing the newly made creases and wrinkles of the white sheets. His expressions were hidden underneath the long blonde hair; however he spoke, "Our goals, before Madara, were your goals. You created Akatsuki. You…" He slowly looked up to see Pein staring at Deidara intently with that same serious gaze he would give to anyone and everyone. "You took the worst people off the streets and gave us a home." He slowly got up from his seat and walked further towards Pein who stiffened but did not move away from his position. He moved his body so it was facing the camera and blocking Pein. "You know, if you don't hurry and remember those goals of yours soon, your plans that you had could all go out… with a bang." He smirked, dropping something cold, smooth and solid in his hands before moving away.

Just as Deidara began walking towards the door, Pein quickly scrambled to his feet, clutching the item in his fist, "What was my goal? Tell me."

The blonde had a hand on the door handle, turning out and gave Pein a devious smirk, "Peace, Pein." He held up his other hand in a "V" shape with his fingers before quickly exiting the room, locked once more.

Pein narrowed his eyes and stared at the black colored door before the lights shut off again, surrounding him in darkness once again. "'Peace'…?" Was it as a farewell? Or was that his answer to his question? He then realized that he was holding onto whatever Deidara had given him. Looking down, his eyes quickly adjusted to the dimness of the room. It was a key. **Peace**.

* * *

In the next room over, the jade-eyed girl's ears were still pressed against the white wall that was slightly stained red due to Pein's violent behaviors from when Ino had shown up. Unknowingly, her pupils began to dilate as her breathing grew shagged as soon as she heard the name. "Pein…" she whispered, barely audible.

* * *

_ "Pein," she whispered, grinning and looking up at the tall man standing in front of her, "That's an interesting name." She looked down at her own sandaled feet that was walking along the cemented road and glanced to her right, seeing black vans. What caught her green eyes most was the dark orange laces. "Your favorite color is orange?" _

_ The young man next to her grunted, beginning to grow annoyed of the smaller presence and stopped walking, "Miss, why are you even following me? Aren't you supposed to be finding a new apartment or something now that everything precious you have is now ruined back in the fire?" Lately, this strange pink haired girl had been following him two days after the fire incident. She immediately recognized him as the person who saved her neighbor, the starter of the fire. _

_ "Sakura." _

_ "Excuse me?" He raised a pierced orange eyebrow. _

_ "Haruno Sakura," she stated, stopping and stood in front of him, "That's my name. It's not 'Miss'. I'm staying at my friend's house until I get back on my feet." She turned swiftly and began walking again, a small grin on her face as the pale yellow sundress she wore flowed with the little breeze that danced by. _

_ "'Haruno Sakura'," Pein quietly muttered to himself before walking again, his long strides quickly catching up with her quick ones. This girl was amusing. They continued walking in a peaceful silence despite the outside disturbances from the chatters of other walkers to cars driving by in the opposite direction. _

_ Sakura glanced to her right again and a smile plastered itself onto her face, "So you like the color orange?" _

_ He was lucky he didn't trip over his own feet at her outrageous and odd question. He threw her a menacing glare, but then saw that his hard stare had no affect on this girl—on Sakura. After a few minutes of silence, he let out a small sigh and grunted, "Yes."_

* * *

Her breathing finally evened and a small smile began plastering on her pale face at the memory. She blinked, slowly gripping the white wall with her fingers as she attempted standing up for the first time in ages. At first, her legs began to wobble dangerously as both her hands pressed against the wall, her breathing rough again as she fell back down again with a loud thud.

Pein had heard this loud noise and came to realization that it was his silent angel from the other side. He immediately ran towards the corner and started shouting, "Tenshi-san? Are you there? Please answer… Please…"

Sakura gritted her teeth before attempting to stand again, knees shook but her hands pressed against the wall helped. As she finally stood straight up, she breathed out, hearing Pein's concerned voice calling out her nickname and a plea for her to respond to his questions. She dropped her head, letting it rest against the white wall and gave a soft grin, "Sakura." She said at last.

"Excuse me…?" Pein's ringed eyes widen at the gentle and melodic voice from the other side. Was this her?

"Sakura," she stated again, this time more clearly, "Haruno Sakura. That's my name."

* * *

Tsunade's hazel eyes widened a fraction at what she considered a miracle. Both Pein and Sakura's progress had been significantly rising and she wasn't so sure that was a good thing, or a bad thing. She turned up the volume to the security cameras to hear Sakura speaking to Pein in a pure tone. It must be the frequent visits they both have been receiving. "Shizune," she called out to her assistant.

"Tsunade-sensei?" Shizune quickly walked over, glancing at the miracle on the screen and then back to her mentor. "Is there anything I can do?"

The blonde's hand began to naturally fold again, chin resting upon them as her hazelnut eyes never leaving the screen. "Yes, cancel all visits for both Sakura and Pein."

"Are you sure?" Shizune's eyebrow raised in confusion. Weren't they only progressing because of the constant visits?

"Must I repeat myself?" Tsunade's gaze hardened as she began to rapidly take down notes of her observations and of what she heard from the two of them. Now, it was just harmless chatter Deidara and Ino.

Shizune pursed her lips and nodded, "I'm on it." Slowly leaving the room, she made her way to make several phone calls to visitors, telling them that there has been a change of plans and that all visits are now canceled.

Tsunade glanced back up at the television screens to notice the two of them retreating back to their corners, slowly falling asleep. She quickly checked the time—23:47. It was almost midnight. She heaved a sigh, sliding back in her chair and casually slouched. It was getting late, and she had to make a quick stop to a 24 hour convenience store before finally heading home.

She switched off the lights to her research room and locked the doors, checking and making sure all other doors were locked before informing to her dark haired assistant that she would be heading home and to recheck all locks. It would be unfortunate and deadly if Sakura and Pein were exposed to the real world so soon, especially in their condition now.

Her heels clicked against the graveled road of the parking lot before finally stopping in front of her red Volvo. Right before she could even unlock the door, she tensed up, feeling an eerily familiar presence in the dimly lit parking lot. "Who's there?" she murmured, paranoid eyes darting in every corner.

"How are their conditions?" a deep voice invaded her ears not too far from her as she gulped, hard eyes staring into her back as she let go of the car door handle. It was the same man that had given her permission, space and equipment to run her experiments.

"The same," she lied to the man near her. "What do you want, Uchiha Madara?"

TBC.

4th reviewer of this chapter gets a special prize (:


	8. Pieces Assemble

**Author's Note:** I'm so happy with the rising popularity of this fanfiction is getting! (: It's definitely keeping me motivated to write more! My updates aren't everyday, which I'd imagine to be overwhelming for the readers and writer, but I will try to update a chapter weekly. Congratulations to rayaisaninjaa for being my fourth reviewer! She requested a SakuMulti AU oneshot, and so I give you: **Oblivious**. I'll definitely have more contests similar to that that anyone can win. I'll probably give a contest every odd chapter, and the prizes can vary—so it'll be like a surprise! You may also get a prize for being a consistent reviewer. Anyways, enjoy and bon appétit.

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 8 – Pieces Assemble_

_"Kill her," pierced lips growled at a young woman with vermillion red hair and similar colored eyes whose eyes widened a fraction behind dark frames and she began to shake in fear. The young woman kneeling in front of him was near the same age of Sakura. An older man with his face half way covered with a dark cloth eyed Pein carefully, holding a sharp knife underneath the girl's throat. "I said kill her. She doesn't deserve to live, Kakuzu." _

_ Said man gave a low sigh at Pein's quick-thinking and obliged to the orders, making the death quick so even the vermillion haired girl didn't utter a scream, so much of a sound. "Was it necessary, Pein?" he asked quietly, slowly letting go of the now lifeless body. _

_ "Yes," Pein answered hastily, turning away from the older man, "she was threatening her. Karin was threatening __**Sakura**__." _

_ "But—" _

_ "But nothing!" the orange haired man growled, slowly walking away from the murder scene, "She…" he gulped, looking down at his pale untouched hands. They felt like they were stained with blood despite the absence of red. He took the responsibility of the redhead's death. "She was going to tell Madara. She was going to tell him about Sakura." He swiftly turned towards Kakuzu, hard ringed eyes looking over the shocked man's face. "You know that can't happen. I can't lose Sakura." His throat began to tighten as he fought for the right words to slip past his lips, but no sound came out. "Not after Konan…" he cursed at himself for hearing his voice beginning to crack. "Promise me, promise me whatever happens to Sakura and I, that you'll find her and make sure she stays far away from Madara, even if that means separating us." He stared intently into Kakuzu's green ones, begging. _

_ "I understand."_

* * *

A loud shout protruded his eardrums, forcing him awake and shutting his eyes tightly to cover his ears. Who was shouting? And this late at night? Was it even night time in his dark world? It wasn't until a good twenty seconds later he realized it was his own voice that was shouting. He quickly stopped, covering his own mouth with his hands as he sucked in a large amount of air to regain his composure. What was that dream? It couldn't be another memory, but the chances it being a memory was large. He slowly uncovered his closed mouth and stared at his hand, seeing nothing but darkness. Instead, he began tracing it, feeling the rough callous on his fingertips and shuddered. Was he really a murderer?

"Pein-kun…?" somewhat of a soft mewl erupted from the other side of the wall. "I heard you scream. Are you alright?"

It was Sakura. He only nodded, answering back, "Yes… Just… another nightmare." He couldn't explain to her that it was a memory. It would either be revealing too much, or complicated and overwhelming.

"Who was in your nightmare?" she asked softly.

Her question was unexpected and threw Pein off guard. It took a while for him to answer the question and remember the names he could recall, "Myself, Kakuzu, Karin and… you. There was another name mentioned however. His name sounded familiar, like I heard it before somewhere else other than my dream. It was—"

* * *

"Madara," the blonde researcher glared at the figure looming out of the darkness, "What is it that you want." It was a demand, not a question. Her long fingers released the grip of her car handle and allowed her arms to cross; her feet shoulder widths apart and hazel eyes hard as the said man stepped out of the shadow.

His long dark hair fell around his face, seeming disheveled and a large spiky mess, but it was neat in a way that was natural. He wore a deep crimson dress shirt with a silky black tie and matching black dress pants with a black leather belt looped around his hips along with the appropriate shoes. He smirked, looking up at Tsunade with a visible dangerous and bloodthirsty left red eye. They were the color of geranium flowers, but deeper with a more deadly intent in them. He gave a light smirk, "Don't I deserve the right to know?" his deep baritone voice reverberated in the parking lot walls, "After all Tsunade, who gave you the space, the equipment, the _money_ for you to do this experiment?"

Tsunade resisted a growl towards the man, her jaws clenched and she bit her tongue from saying anything rash towards him that would cost her, her life. She could feel the palms of her hands begin to grow wet with cold sweat in nervousness. Uchiha Madara was not a man anyone should associate with, and if anyone did, they would automatically regret it.

"Who gave you the space, the equipment and money for this, Tsunade?" he asked again, "I won't repeat myself. You know how much I absolutely _hate_ repetition. It's boring, and I hate being bored."

Tsunade slowly sucked air, realizing she had been holding it for the longest time, "You."

Madara nodded, almost grinning as his glowing crimson eyes never left the stony hazel ones. "Good, you should remember that. Now, how is their progress?"

"Fine," she seethed, "Nothing has changed." Another lie. She prayed that he wouldn't see through her lie. If he did, she knew bad things were to happen, but she couldn't let him know of Pein and Sakura's progress. Unlike Madara, Tsunade actually knew what had happened between Pein and Sakura.

The minute that passed by seemed unbearable, but he finally spoke, raising an eyebrow before turning his back towards her, walking away, "I see." He stopped before turning his head to catch a glimpse of the blonde still staring at him and smirked, a deep chuckle escaped his mouth, "Remember that I absolutely _detest_ anything boring Tsunade… Don't let this little experiment of yours bore me."

* * *

Green hues widened at the sound of the name 'Madara' running passed the male's lips as her breathing began to quicken. There was no way. She blinked several times and repeated the name over, "Madara… Madara… Uchiha Madara…?" The name rolled off her tongue like it was a mantra, no, a curse. Her throat tied itself in a knot as she gulped and closed her eyes, shutting it off from the whiteness of her world.

"Sakura?" Pein's voice began to sound panicky as he received no response from her. "Is everything alright?" His orange eyebrows began to knit itself together in concern and uneasiness.

* * *

_"Sakura?" a voice called out to her. No response. The voice began to sound tight this time, "Sakura? Helloooo? Earth to Forehead-girl," Soon, green eyes snapped open to meet a light sky blue. _

_ "Yes?" Sakura muttered, her eyes and facial expression still in a daze, almost as if she just woke up. _

_ Ino raised a thin platinum eyebrow and shrugged, "You've been a day-dreamy lately. What's been going on in that big head of yours?" _

_ The coffee-like aroma invaded the rosette's nostrils as she took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, appearing to be a light sigh and gave a gentle smile, "Oh, not much, just moving into Pein's place tomorrow." It was true. She hadn't been thinking about much else other than moving in with the orange haired enigma. Over the short amount of time they had gotten to know each other, she didn't want to burden her friend Ino by staying in the small house, and so Pein had brought up the offer. _

_ Ino's blue eyes twinkled in interest, "Tell me Sakura, what is going on between you and this 'Pein' person? I've heard names and stories, but never seen him. Is he some sort of imaginary boyfriend or something?" She snickered and teased, only to realize that Sakura still had that stupid grin on her face. _

_ "Nah, he's… he's really something alright." The grin was automatically wiped from her face as more thoughts reoccurred to her, "We're just friends. I might like him in that way, but that doesn't mean he feels the same. We've only really known each other for nearly two months." _

_ "Yeah," Ino nodded, but responded quickly, "But you two have been seeing each other every god damn day." She gave an exasperated sigh, taking a sip of her coffee from a cream colored mug, wincing a bit at the bitterness. _

_ Sakura only shrugged, her lips beginning to curl again, "Still, a month and a half isn't much time. Funny though, it seems like I've known him since forever." Sighing, she slowly began to reach for her own russet shade of coffee until her phone went off. She looked down and blinked several times to see the caller was labeled as __**Unknown Caller**__. She normally didn't pick up random phone calls—especially unknown or private calls, and so she just let the call go to voicemail. _

_Shrugging, she began to reach for her coffee again, listening to Ino rant on about her current boyfriend's overworking and complaining to her all the time about how 'troublesome' everything seems to be. Again, her phone went off. She narrowed her green eyes to see it was the same title: __**Unknown Caller**__. _

"_Just pick it up Forehead," Ino rolled her eyes, slightly irritated at the constant interruptions, "Must be some punk prank-caller or something." _

_Decided on taking Ino's advice for once, Sakura quickly answered the phone, holding it up to her ear and muttered an annoyed, "Hello? Sakura speaking." _

_She heard nothing at first, and was about to hang up until she heard a deep eerie chuckle, "My, my… Someone sounds irritated Sakura__**-chan**__." _

_Sakura narrowed her green eyes, "Naruto? If this is you prank-calling me, it isn't funny. Quit it idiot." She knew that Naruto would occasionally get bored and prank call her. However, this voice appeared to be slightly deeper than Naruto's. _

_The chuckle sounded more apparent and the voice began to speak again, "No my dear, this is Uchiha Madara."_

* * *

It wasn't until now was when Sakura realized that Pein had been urgently calling her name to see if she was alright and apologizing if he had done or said anything wrong to her. She blinked a couple of times, realizing she had been clutching her head and stared at the white corner, "Yes, I'm fine…" She heard a sigh of relief from the other side. "Pein, I think I know who Madara is." She narrowed her green eyes and felt bile rise up to her throat but kept it back down. She felt an odd disgust and hatred towards the name. "Pein, what happened in the past, in that memory?" She could feel her head slowly begin to swim as relatively small pieces began to piece together.

Pein flinched when she had said the truth, it was a memory. She had found out sooner than he had anticipated, but figured it would've come since she was receiving her own memories back. He muttered a soft response, "A man named Kakuzu killed this one girl by the name of Karin… She had dark red hair with red eyes and black glasses." He felt his throat beginning to form a knot, but forced himself to continue for her, "He killed her upon my order, but because she was threatening to reveal you to Madara."

Sakura bit her lower lip, receiving the information and processing it in her head quickly, "Madara… I had received a phone call from him at one point."

Pein's head shot up and stared at the dark corner in his world, "When?" He corrected himself, "From what you can remember, when?"

"Day before I was moving in with you."

He was shocked to hear, and could feel the heat rise up to his face at that fact. They moved in together? Were they…? He quickly shook the thought out of his head. Now was definitely not the time to be making quick assumptions, especially when this Madara person was obviously dangerous for the both of them. He narrowed his eyes and his hands tightened around each other, feeling a slight pain in his right hand. Blinking he unclenched his right hand, feeling something warm and metal.

His eyes widened in realization as everything flew back to him. He hastily got to his feet and pressed his empty left hand on the dark wall, "Sakura, I think I found a way to escape."

TBC.

**Any** original fan-art for this fanfic will be rewarded a prize!

New competition next chapter.


	9. Are Nightmares

**Author's Note:** A HUGE thank you to _**sOhAe**_ for the absolutely _lovely _and _beautiful_ fan art on deviantArt! The link will be put on my profile with all credits given to the wonderful artist. Another HUGE thank you to _**The Source Behind the Shadow**_ for being the first reviewer on my other chapter and being the only one for quite a while until I received the fan art (: So the prizes for the both of them will be: oneshots written in dedication to their dedication for this fanfiction and they get to choose any of their favorite Naruto pairings; and so without further ado, bon appétit.

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 9 – Are Nightmares _

A hard glare was met with nervous onyx eyes. No vocal words were exchanged between the light haired researcher and the dark haired assistant. No words were needed to be said for the assistant to see that Tsunade was serious and intent on her orders given to Shizune. She knew and understood that Tsunade did not like to be kept waiting and was definitely no patient woman. She swallowed the knot beginning to form in her throat and she stared at the blonde woman's feet, asking once more, "Are you sure you want to do this Tsunade?"

"Yes," the blonde haired woman nodded urgently, "it must be done. At no cost should Uchiha Madara set foot in this here establishment so long as Sakura and Pein are kept here. I want that man as far away from here as possible, and in order to do that, I need to have a word with another man that is suited for this job."

Shizune bit her lip and nodded hesitantly, "I'll send him in then, Tsunade-sensei." She took Tsunade sake bottle off from her desk, surprised to see and feel that it was still practically full. If it weren't for the heavy situation they were all currently in right now, the young assistant would have beamed at her teacher's sober and serious attitude. However, it wasn't the case.

* * *

_The air was tense and heavy around the short haired girl. Her viridian green eyes darted around anxiously in every corner and surface of the area. Her porcelain hands delicately began to shake as she tried her best to place her mug of latte down softly but failed. There were many shades of color that she could see ranging from blues, greens, yellows, purples and then there it was again. That horrifying and terrible color—red, maroon, vermillion, cardinal; whatever color a person wanted to call it, it was still that deadly shade of blood. _

_ Green hues began to rapidly quiver as her breathing and movement stopped. There it was again, red. Those red eyes that haunted her very dreams had been the start ever since she had began receiving phone calls from this 'Madara' person. _

_ "My, you're so tense," a deep voice entered her right ear in a soft whisper, a smirk present on the said man's lips, "Relax __**Sakura-chan**__. I don't bite… often." _

_ His response had only caused her shoulders to stiffen more. It wasn't her first time seeing Madara in person. He had visited her several times, including once in her home—her and Pein's home. "I can see why you have Pein wrapped around your little finger now," he stayed right by her ear, his baritone voice penetrated her eardrums, large hands placed on her stiff shoulders and pushed them down in a forceful way that almost hurt. _

_ 'Wrapped around my finger?' she silently thought to herself, nervous eyes staring straight out into a round window where she saw a large oak tree planted outside. Where was Pein? He should have been home by now. It was mid-afternoon and he normally got off work by now. _

_ A large hand went to reach for a short pink lock of her hair as Madara twirled and twisted it with his fingers. She felt disgusted and so desperately wanted to move as far away from the vile man as she could. She had done so once, and a threat to hurt Pein had been enough for her to stop. She didn't know what relationship Pein had with this man, but Madara seemed to know him. Never once had Pein ever mentioned a man named 'Madara'. _

_ His face was nearly pressed against hers and his lean body was nearly touching her back as he leaned in closer, that smirk never leaving his pale face. "I find it funny, how you just ignore me like this. Pretending that I'm not here," In a quick action, he grabbed a fist full of her pastel hair and yanked it back so her watering green eyes were forced to look into his leering red ones, "when I actually am here. It's rude to ignore guests Sakura-chan." _

_ Emerald eyes soon snapped shut as trickles of salty tears ran down the side of her face as he let go, letting her head dive into folded arms that rested on a kitchen counter top. He needed to leave her alone. She wanted to __**be**__ alone. It was that coldness she felt whenever she was around Madara, that spine-chilling feeling of being around such a cruel and menacing monster. He had been tormenting her for the past month ever since she moved in with Pein and there was nothing she could do about it. He had given her threats of harming and ruining her friends' and Pein's life, and being an Uchiha made him have complete control of the entire police force in Konoha. _

_ Almost as if she had her wish granted, the coldness swept away with something warm being pressed gently against her head. Sakura slowly began to lift her head to see those calming rings of shaded cadet gray, the smooth piercings that seemed to naturally fall in place with the look he had on his face. "Sakura…" he looked worried, sounding concerned as well, "What happened?" _

_ His hand kept stroking her salmon colored hair in a way that Madara could never do that made her relax and feel safe. She leaned slightly against his hand and quickly wiped the tears away, giving him a quick smile, "I'm just having a bad day." And then she saw that horrid red again from behind the windows._

* * *

Pistachio green eyes snapped open in shock as Sakura quickly stood up and began panting, sweat droplets sliding down her forehead as she flinched at the same shocking pink that invaded her eyes. So that was why she used to hate the rosette hues. It was the closest color to red in this blank, white room.

A scratching noise was heard from the other side of her room as she slowly began standing on her feet. The process of standing and walking soon became natural to her. However, she knew running would soon become an issue. "Pein?" she barely whispered, her voice light and airy so as to not let the cameras catch her speaking and communicating.

"Ah…" a deeper smooth voice was heard from the other side, barely heard over the dense silence that hung around both rooms. "We will escape soon," Pein pressed his back against the warm corner, slowly breathing out and looked up towards the black ceiling of his dark world. He almost forgot what the outside world would be like. How long had the two of them been cooped up in this room? Far too long, he assumed, just remembering how months ago, almost a year ago how much he never wanted to leave this room, never wanted to face reality.

He narrowed his eyes at the thought. Did he really truly want to leave? Why was it that made him think of leaving again? _"Peace, Pein." _That's right; Deidara and the rest of the Akatsuki. Even though he could only remember few of their names, he felt closeness whenever he uttered the name 'Akatsuki'. But what of his angel? What about Sakura? All he knew was that he wanted Sakura as far away from Madara as possible. And then there was one of his first recollections of a robbery with a girl next to him, glaring with her viridian green eyes. Was that also Sakura?

* * *

_"She's a distraction," a gruff voice was spoken loudly in a large meeting room. "Get rid of her." Everyone in the room sitting around a large oblong table began to look down and stayed silent except for the fiery haired man who sat right across from the speaker. _

_ "No," Pein quickly stood up from his seat, hands spread out onto the table as his eyebrows began to knit themselves together in worry. His cadet gray ringed eyes began to search for some amount of sympathy in the other man's gleaming red eyes. "Madara, you can't." People began shifting in their seats uncomfortably, but said nothing. He saw no sympathy. "I promise, she won't be a distraction." He felt like a little boy again, begging to a superior. _

_ Madara just smirked, maroon eyes flashing in amusement, "Pein, I've never seen you so worked up on keeping a mere __**pet**__—" _

_ "She is no pet," Pein growled, his mood quickly changing. "She has use… She…" He gulped as he slowly slid back down into his seat and murmured, "She currently has a temporary job at a bank." _

_ Eyes were all directed at Pein, a majority of them glaring at him for revealing such information, but they all knew it couldn't be helped. They all knew the consequences of Sakura, but she was worth the sacrifice. "And?" Madara raised an eyebrow, uninterested. "We could easily rob any other bank. What makes hers so special?" _

_ "There's a safe; in the back where they store old artifacts from when Konoha was still a shinobi village." Pein flinched at what was going to come, but looked up to see Madara's blank face turn into some devious. He knew that Madara was very interested in the past and the future. He was never too focused on the present. Pein, himself, was only focused on one goal and it was peace. He didn't come from Konoha but instead he and his longest and best friend Konan came from Ame, a large but poor and ghetto city northeast from Konoha had suffered the horrible impacts of war from long ago, and it never got better. _

_ Minutes ticked away for what seemed to be forever until the older Uchiha finally smirked, "Interesting."_

* * *

_ "What the hell man?" a long blonde haired man shouted, shoving a distressed orange headed man up against the wall before stomping away, then back; almost as if pacing frantically. "How could you just endanger Sakura like that? You know you got her involved now too right?" He and the rests of the Akatsuki minus Madara all glared at him. _

_ Pein winced and nodded, "I know… But Deidara, I can't leave her. Madara is going to get her anyway whether or not I involve her. You know that." He stood back up again, feeling taller and looked out to the organization. "You all know that." _

_ Everyone seemed to go into a slouch, their heads hanging at the known fact. Kakuzu blinked and took a step forward towards Pein, muttering audibly, "What are we going to do now Pein?" _

_ "What we've been doing," said name heaved a sigh, "Kakuzu and Hidan, make sure Sakura is safe; Itachi and Kisame, keep a look out for the police; Deidara and Sasori, work on a backup plan if things do not go according to our original plan; Zetsu and Konan, continue spying on Madara." He knew that Zetsu and Konan had the hardest and dangerous jobs, but Zetsu proved to be an excellent tracker and he had given Konan the highest amount of trust any person and friend could give to another._

* * *

_ It had been weeks after the meeting he had with the entire organization with the scheming Uchiha. Nothing changed, no one mentioned a robbery, and havoc was not wreaked. Sakura was safe, everyone was safe, it almo—__**Bee-bee-beep, bee-bee-be—**__It was his phone. Not checking the number, he flipped it open, "Hello?" _

_ "P-Pein… Help me…" Coughs and sputters could be heard as well as vomiting in the background. His ringed eyes widened at the voice and glanced down the hall to see Sakura walking into a room, completely unaware of what was happening. _

_ "My, my, look what I found Pein," a deep chuckle was heard from the phone. It was Madara. "I found a spy of yours. She's been following me for the longest time. It's gotten to be quite annoying. You wouldn't mind if I dispose of her would you?" _

_ His ringed eyes widened, "Wait, no—"_

_ "PE—" Konan's voice was cut off by a gunshot. _

TBC.

7th reviewer gets a prize!


	10. Are Leftovers

**Author's Note:** I can't believe I completely _neglected_ this plot bug. I didn't have writers block or anything, time just got the best of me, and I'm handling my summer AP homework fairly well so far, so I've got a bit of time on my hands. I hope my writing style hasn't changed TOO much after taking such a rigorous writing AP course, and if it does, hopefully it is better! Thank you to my constant reviewers again. I only started writing this again is because I read through it and the plot bug nabbed at me yet again. I apologize for the long awaited chapter, but here it is! Reviews are always lovely too. I'll definitely keep up with my oneshot-prize-giveaways at the end of each chapter. Without further ado, enjoy.

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 10 – Are Leftovers _

Ringed gray eyes opened to reveal the same darkness he had been stuck in for the longest time. Memories kept flashing back towards him every time he closed his eyes, from when he and his two best friends Yahiko and Konan met, to when Konan was killed by the hands of Madara. He slowly breathed in and let out a deep but soothing sigh. He wasn't so sure if he wanted to leave anymore, that he just wanted to stay and be next to his angel for the rest of his remaining life.

In the opposite room, sharp and determined viridian snapped open to see her messy and dirtied pink hair sprawled out everywhere around her as she quickly sat up and pushed her long bangs out of the way. Unlike Pein, she wanted to get out soon, out of confinement and solitude. At least to see his face, if it was what she had imagined or pictured from her memories. Their plan of escape so far lasted a week and nothing surprising had happened. It was almost as if everything had returned to normal again from the same light bulb off in the down right corner of the room flickering on occasion, to the same food they would always receive in the slots that opened for a few seconds before closing again. She was getting restless, unknowing that they could escape any minute, that Pein had the key out of his room and possibly her room.

* * *

"Uchiha," Tsunade narrowed her hazel eyes as she sat firmly in her desk, hands folded and elbows propped on her mahogany desk, chin resting on her hands, "Itachi."

Dark red eyes flicked up to make eye contact with the woman, "You called for me Tsunade-san." He spoke quietly and diligently. Something Tsunade wasn't very used to for an Uchiha, but she had to remember—this wasn't Madara. It was Itachi, Madara's nephew. His deep maroon hues were no different than Madara's cold ones, but the only difference was that his were steely, but ensured protection and safety whether from him, or the Uchiha police corp.

"Have a seat Uchiha," she gestured a sapphire cushioned seat in front of her large desk. She offered him a small cup of sake but it was rejected with a firm shake of the head.

"Please, call me Itachi," he murmured, definitely not used too many formalities with anyone out of his family. Tsunade could easily tell that he was uncomfortable with his surname. Why wouldn't he? The name associated with Uchiha Madara. No one ever wanted to be associated with him.

"Itachi," Tsunade murmured, hazel eyes still glued onto the steely maroon ones. Not all Uchihas had red eyes, she knew Itachi's little brother had hard onyx ones and so did the mother and father. She would have assumed the maroon eyes were either a birth defect, or an Uchiha recessive gene. She would assume the latter. "You know of my little 'experiment' here at the research center." There was a brief nod in confirmation of the knowledge before Tsunade continued, "Tell me, how much do you know?" Secrecy of this research center was supposed to be kept, but most of the time, it normally got out to a few people.

The long haired man raised one eyebrow, "You are currently researching information on human behavior in different environments. Since it is rather cruel to experiment on infants or toddlers—no matter how harmless or harmful—you go for the next best thing…" He blinked only once, "People with signs of amnesia. It's like starting from scratch, but with a better health record and stronger immunity."

Tsunade had to stifle a chuckle; of course he would know practically everything. However… she was unsure if he knew the people she were using, "Do you know—"

"Nagato Pein and Haruno Sakura,"

Smart kid; but of course, he should already know this, the Akatsuki have been constant visitors. Tsunade finally took her gaze off of him for the first time and gathered together some loose papers in a manila folder, tapping the edges on the smooth surface of her mahogany desk before clearing her throat and continued, "I'll get straight to the point then," a nod, "As you may have already known… The only funding this research center has is from Uchiha Madara, however his intent towards Pein and Sakura are unknown. I'm more afraid of Pein and Sakura's safety than my own at this point. So…"

"So you want me to body guard," Itachi stated bluntly, an almost bored look plastered on his face, "You should know that the Uchiha police corp is all under the direction of Ma—"

"I don't want protection from the police," Tsunade repositioned herself to a stern glare at the Uchiha, "I know you're a member of the Akatsuki," he stiffened at his revealed secret, "and I won't question why, how or report you in, but do me this one favor, and I will let you off the hook just as I have done for so many other of your friends."

After a few short seconds of silence Itachi finally spoke, realizing that the platinum blonde was telling the truth of not reporting him in. It was well known that the Akatsuki had a tendency to only collect the homeless troublemakers off the streets; and he was not homeless nor a troublemaker. Why he joined the Akatsuki? He had his reasons. "What is your requested favor?" he raised an eyebrow in curiosity, already assuming her answer.

"I understand that the Akatsuki is a bunch of criminals all put together in one large group, however… I do believe that your organization is fit for the job, and it will also bring you all closer to Pein and Sakura… Guard them. Guard them with your _life_," she stressed the words as she quickly continued speaking, "I don't want Madara to lay a single finger on either Pein or Sakura you understand me?"

"You are aware that Madara has full control of the Akatsuki due to Pein's absence?" he quickly retaliated, as if blaming her, but then bit back at his words. It was definitely not Tsunade's fault both Pein and Sakura were stuck in there. Madara had given the equipment, center and money for the blonde researcher's project and experiments, and that included the subjects themselves. She would have never wanted her non-blood related daughter to be part of this experiment.

Tsunade smirked at this, "I am aware. I am also aware of the fact that he has been giving the Akatsuki busy-work. This will just be disguised as one of them. I do not need the entire Akatsuki here. Just as many of you are able to without arousing suspicion from that bastard." Silence ensued, seeing the calculating maroon eyes haze over with the plan. "Well Itachi?"

Itachi quickly stood up, readjusted his crimson red tie, loosening it to an extent and gave a small devilish smirk as he turned around, "The Akatsuki may be just a small group of this country's wanted criminals, but we're all still human, Tsunade. I will inform everyone about this quickly. We will stand guard near and in the vicinity when you and your assistant are no longer present."

* * *

"I… don't know if I want to leave Sakura," Pein whispered, hearing a sharp intake of breath that came from the other side. It was safe to speak of their plan since they knew that both Tsunade and Shizune had left the building. Each time the two left, the lights on Sakura's side would flicker slightly due to doors being slammed shut and locked tightly.

Sakura narrowed her green eyes, her shoulders dropping, "But why?" Why indeed. She had not regained all of her memories, but she saw the horrors and joys of the world that lay outside of their safe confinement from memories that she had recollected. She was still hesitant, but she wanted to leave.

Pein growled in frustration at her question, "Exactly Sakura—why? Why do _you_ want to escape so badly? It's safe here. We're safe from Madara."

"Because, I want to see you again," her answer was immediate, swift with no hesitation and guilt instantly hit Pein like a ton of bricks.

Of course she would want to see him again… Who's to say that he didn't want to see her either? He wanted to see her desperately as well, but the fear and stress of Madara had nearly driven that want and desire away from him. He bit his lips and heaved a sigh, "Right… I… I do too." A faint smile worked its way up to his pierced lips as his hands clenched around the key tighter, "We will escape tonight then. Soon, I promise." He closed his ringed eyes, leaning against the wall and could almost picture her standing right in front of him, arms open, with that warm smile that made his stomach rise up in delight. He opened his eyes again; only to see the same dark abyss he was stuck in, glancing down to his hands to see an outline of the key.

"'Peace', huh?" he closed his ringed eyes, reminiscing in the past yet again.

* * *

_"'Peace'?"_

_ Messy orange hair nodded towards the salmon colored one, "Peace." Pein had decided to take some time off away from Akatsuki business in order to spend some time with the girl sitting in front of him now in a fairly secluded cafe. She would be moving into his apartment and they had to sort out dividing rent along with establishing some rules. Somehow, the Akatsuki was brought up. He was thankful she was still unaware of his high position in the organization._

_ "So," Sakura pursed her lips, viridian eyes narrowing at him, "you're trying to tell me that the Akatsuki is doing all of these things for 'peace'." _

_ He nodded, seriousness plastered on his face. It made Sakura almost want to burst out laughing, but seeing as how he was passionate upon the topic, she held it back. Pein saw her reluctance and sighed, "I mean, why else would they release a ton of secret documentations hidden by the government?" _

_ "To overthrow the government." _

_ "And this government is unfair, especially with what Danzo is doing, it's obvious he's blackmailing officials and has spies," he pointed out. When it came to politics, he was passionate. He didn't agree with the large wealth gap and the large barrier between the poor ghettos and the rich communities. There was barely a middle class and it became apparent who was rich and poor through who was working for Danzo and who wasn't. _

_ Sakura bit her lip, wanting to argue back, but found no plausible counter-argument and sighed, a faint smile on her face, "You know, maybe you're right. It still doesn't make sense why a bunch of criminals would do that though for the entire nation. Isn't one of them a terrorist anyways?" She pointed at him with a fork before stabbing it into her waffle. _

_ Pein rolled his eyes, "How would I know?" He had to remember to keep up the act and not reveal too much to Sakura. As his ringed eyes rolled back to face Sakura, his back stiffened visibly when gray ringed orbs hit vermillion ones outside the café through the window. Madara._

* * *

Tsunade narrowed her hazel eyes at the group of criminals. It would be so easy to just turn them into the police, get the bounty money and continue her research without Madara ruining everything, but knowing what she had started with the awful man, there was no way out. She heaved a sigh and nodded, "I don't trust all of you… But I do trust that you all care for the two locked up in there. Whatever happens… I want you all to promise me, promise me that whatever happens to Sakura and Pein, that you'll take them far away from Madara, even if that means I have to give up this now meaningless research."

Kakuzu visibly flinched at those words. _"Promise me, promise me whatever happens to Sakura and I, that you'll find her and make sure she stays far away from Madara, even if that means separating us."_ They were so much like Pein's. He stiffened; the guilt had finally sunk in that he was unable to keep his promise to his close friend and leader. Today will be different.

"We understand," Kakuzu took a surprising step forward and nodded towards Tsunade. There was a sense of déjà vu at his words, but he knew it was going to be different this time.

Tsunade nodded, "Good. You all have my number in case of any emergencies or if anything is to go wrong. Remember: your first priority is Sakura and Pein…" She slowly turned around to give Itachi the keys to the facilities before walking away without another word. She put her trust in them. They were dangerous and sketchy, but they were also skilled and Pein's background with them was sufficient enough to put her trust in them.

TBC.

Apologies that this is short compared to some of my other chapters. Or is it longer?

Anyways, review with whatever pairing/couple and plot you'd like, and I'll pick the one review that catches my interest. I'll message the lucky reviewer of this chapter the link to the oneshot I'll write up for them! Thanks for those who've stuck with me so far.


	11. Is Trust

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 11 — Is Trust_

It had been the fourth night of patrolling the cheap building that Tsunade had called a research center. So far, Madara had not done anything in order to approach the building or even relay any interest in the building. It was plain and simple that at least half of the Akatsuki would stay and keep watch over the center from the time it closes to the time Tsunade arrives back early in the morning. This had pleased Shizune to no end due to the fact that her busty blonde mentor had stopped drinking so much due to the seriousness of the issue, however the dark haired girl did wish that it was under better circumstances. The two women still did not completely trust anyone in the criminal organization much rather _half_ of them patrolling around the vicinity, but they had done their job thus far and Sakura as well as Pein has been kept safe.

The blonde had sighed in relief at this fact as she quickly swerved her car into the empty parking lot and approached the center. It had looked empty with no criminal occupants, but she had known better. There was a reason why no one in the Akatsuki had gotten caught yet other than their orange haired member, Pein. Quickly she slammed the car door shut and pressed the lock button three times, hearing it beep distinctly three times. It was a hidden signal for the Akatsuki that she had arrived and was allowed to lower their guard and not attack when she unlocked and entered the dark building.

"Tsunade-san," a call was given in greeting along with a slight bow from a crimson haired male. The blonde researcher had recalled that Sasori was one of the few polite members alongside the weasel, and so she gave a curt nod in greeting as well. "We have detected no signs of Madara near the area."

She nodded in approval, "Good."

However, before she could continue into her office, she heard him clear his throat as the other few members gathered together. Last night Madara had demanded that some of them accompany him in doing some of his 'errands', so it had only been Sasori, Kisame, Deidara and Kakuzu. In fact, Kakuzu had oddly volunteered patrolling the area since day one of the agreement and had done a thorough job of it. Said man began speaking in a cautious tone, "Actually, Tsunade-san, we are growing concerned. As of late, Madara has not taken any interest. Usually that would be a good sign, but having to work and be around the dangerous man long enough, I can safely say that he must be planning something."

Tsunade stiffed at this news and turned around to face the group, "What are you implying that we do then?"

"Relocate."

...

The past four nights had been restless for Pein as well as Sakura, however mainly for the fiery haired man. Lately, he had taken notice of obvious presence inside the building as soon as the researcher and her assistant leave the area. He only knows this through Kakuzu, the man that had appeared in several of his recollected memories from dreams and nightmares. The masked man had been slipping paper through the small opening under the door where the food tray would normally slide through. The room was still an abyss of darkness, but luckily Kakuzu had kept the little door where food would be placed opened so a crack of light shined in, enough for Pein to read said notes.

They had been updates of what was happening so far within the vicinity and who was there with them that night. A note that he had gotten recently had specifically told him that it was not safe to escape yet. The word _'yet'_ had resonated with him and signaled that they would be aiding his escape soon. He had told Sakura the news in a voice filled with excitement, but all he received from her was silence. "Sakura?" he called out, hand pressed against the wall. Why wasn't she responding? She should be just as thrilled as he was—wasn't this what she wanted to begin with?

"Where would we go?" was finally her response followed by more questions. "What will we do? When will we escape and more importantly… _How?_"

These questions had slowly instilled a new sense of fear within Pein. She was right. What would they do? Where would they go? There was always that matter and issue of Madara that would follow and track them down like rodents. Silence had filled both rooms as they both heard distinct voices in the background of what sounded like Tsunade shouting. Sakura quickly hugged herself in order to suppress a shiver that ran down her spine, quickly recalling a similar memory of loudness and white.

...

_"What the __**hell**__ do you mean I can't see her?!" _

_ "Ma'am, she's in very critical condition right now and—"_

_ "Like hell. I am a qualified doctor and I—"_

_ The loud woman's voice was interrupted again, "A qualified doctor from another region; I'm sorry ma'am, but in this area we're not qualified to let anyone in her room other than family." _

_ There was a chilling silence that Sakura could hear from her white room in which she assumed would be her hospital room. The loud familiar voice softened remarkably and heaved a sigh, "Look… I'm the closest she has to family—a surrogate mother. Please…" _

_ Sakura could hear a soft sigh as the nurse acquiesces to the woman's request and gently opens the white door that led to her white room. There had been a long silence as honey brown eyes stare straight into a viridian green. She saw the loud woman's golden hair split into two loose ponytails and abundantly large breasts that put any women to shame. Finally, the woman spoke, "Sakura…" _

_ The salmon haired girl looked around the room for the first time and did indeed confirm that she was in a hospital room. She looked back at the woman who now sat in a chair near her bed. She seemed familiar, but she could not remember. In fact, she couldn't remember how she got here to begin with and why she felt an immense pain in her arm and chest area. All she knew was that she was Haruno Sakura, she had petal pink hair, green eyes and that she was twenty-two. Looking back up into the same warm eyes, she muttered, "Who are you…?" _

_ Sakura could tell the question had stung the woman internally but nonetheless she replied, "Tsunade."_

_..._

Tsunade fumed at the suggestion and desperately wished she had something in her hand to throw at the men standing in front of her with expressionless faces. "What do you mean 'relocate'?!"

"Move th—"

"I know what it means," she hissed, pinching the bridge of her nose in attempts to settle her gradually growing headache and let out a heavy sigh, "Wouldn't relocating the two be more trouble? Madara would only suspect more and he would take action sooner."

Kakuzu shook his head, "The opposite, in fact. The plan would be to secretly relocate the two, but keep up the guise of having the two in this building and you continuing your 'research' on them. Madara would not suspect a thing, and if he did or if he did find out, then he would have to change his plans, thus delaying his course of actions."

"If you moved them, then how would I continue my research?" she raised a blonde eyebrow at this.

Kisame interrupted this time, pointing out blatantly, "We all know that you're just using this 'research' business as a way to keep Sakura for yourself. You only took Pein because you needed further stability to prove that you're taking this experiment seriously."

The knot in Tsunade's throat tightened at this as she gritted her teeth together, turning her back to them. She forced out a scoff, muttering, "Am I really that much of an open book? God damn Sakura rubbed off on me."

Deidara stepped up this time and put a hand on the blonde's shoulder gently in reassurance, "We want to keep them safe just as much as you do." He hated to admit it, but the pink haired girl was what kept Pein from completely falling apart after Konan's death and she did attempt to save him after his admittedly stupid accident with the apartment building fire.

"When?" Tsunade shrugged the other blonde's hand off her shoulder as she turned again, worry glazed over her eyes for a mere second before it was replaced with seriousness once more. "The relocation—when, how and where?"

"It will happen tonight while Madara is out of the city," Kakuzu answered, "We will inform Pein of the plans since he has the key and we will send them off. I cannot tell you the whereabouts just in case Madara…" He didn't dare say more because it was already implied that Madara may have his way if Tsunade let it slip of the two's whereabouts.

Tsunade nodded and raised an eyebrow, "I won't ask where or how Pein got the key… But, how can I trust that you will take care of them? How can I believe you'll take care of Sakura?"

"We've been taking care of them for the past four nights while you are away," Kisame pointed out. "If you do not trust that we will take care of the little brat then trust Pein of taking care of her. If Pein trusts her, then we trust him."

The woman bit her lip nervously before clicking her tongue in reluctance at the statement, "I don't trust any of you, but if Sakura trusts Pein then… Fine," She quickly left the men as she slammed her office door shut. She no longer wanted to talk about the future loss of her surrogate daughter. She hated the fact that relocation was the best possible way to ensure both of their safety, but if she had to trust anyone—it would be Sakura, and she knew that the amount of care and affection the petal haired girl held for the fiery haired one was large enough for this to be done, even if Sakura could not remember what had happened.

...

The night quickly approached and soon enough, both Pein and Sakura could hear the familiar clicks of the locked doors. Apparently, tonight it had only been Kakuzu guarding. The plan was to still commence as organized and it was to run smoothly without suspicion. Everyone else in the Akatsuki had to either accompany Madara on his trip, run other errands or to stay in one of their various bases to keep watch. Unfortunately, Kakuzu still had to keep watch at the front to make sure their only exit was open.

"Sakura," Pein murmured, pressing his back against the warmth of the corner as he stood up, "Kakuzu said he will give us the signal. Listen for security system to disarm itself and be at the door. I will unlock my door and then unlock yours and we'll leave together. Kakuzu will take us somewhere safer from Madara."

From the other side, Sakura nodded, "I trust you…" Butterflies swarmed like flies in her stomach as she nervously bit her lower lip, constantly brushing her long pink locks out of the way. She realized that the first thing she would want to do as soon as she gets out is to see how much has changed from what she could remember and to also get a haircut. However, what made her stomach really flutter was the fact that she would see Pein soon. The memories that she had recollected of him had been pleasant, and she couldn't remember or at least couldn't recollect any unpleasant memories of him so far.

From the outside, Kakuzu stood eerily still, green irises flitting in every angle and every corner to check and see if the coast was clear. Soon enough, a small black Volkswagen Jetta appeared in a silent stop in front of the research facility. Its tinted windows rolled down to reveal the calm and collected cardinal red eyes of Itachi who gave him a nod. Without further hesitation, Kakuzu pressed the necessary buttons on the keypad in a long complicated series and soon enough, the red lights within the entire building at each corner shut off at the sound of a quick beep.

"Sakura," Pein's eyes widened, hearing the distinct and familiar beep as the security system was disarmed, "Go to the door now!" He heard quick shuffling of the feet on the other side as he quickly got up himself and rushed over the door, accidentally stepping on some pebbles on the dark ground as he jammed the key into the door handle and soon enough, it clicked open.

He did not expect to meet a similar darkness again as he had in the room. The security system must have also shut down some of the lights in the area as well. Pein needed to act quickly because he knew anything could happen with every second that he stalled that kept Kakuzu waiting worriedly and impatiently. He quickly felt his way towards another door that emitted a low light from the cracks underneath. It must be where Sakura was kept. "Sakura," he knocked quickly, trying not to shout, "I'm here! I'll get you out soon." He couldn't comprehend what she had said but took it as a murmur of acknowledgement. Before he could even find the handle to her door, he heard a soft eerie chuckle in the background. For once, Pein was afraid of the dark that he had grown so accustomed to.

Outside, Kakuzu tapped his foot impatiently and stared nervously at the calm Uchiha who still sat in the driver's seat of the black vehicle. This was taking far too long. They both locked eyes and nodded, quickly making a mental agreement to go in and see what was going on. As they both entered the building, the click of the front door locked yet again with a secured beep signaling the security system was on yet again. It was impossible to enter or leave the vicinity without the code each time the front doors opened. The two of them sucked in breath as they traveled down the long halls lit with a dim red light from the security system that told them it was on. Itachi held a pistol close to him, the safety clicked off as he used his cell phone as light.

Soon enough, the light was shining down on a pale faced Pein, a revolver pointed straight at his head by a gray skinned man with familiar grass green hair and yellow eyes. Kakuzu growled in detest, "Zetsu."

"You thought Madara didn't know?" the crazed man broke out in laughter, yellow eyes never taking its focus off the two men just as the revolver he held never left the side of Pein's messy orange hair. "You thought he'd just let you get away with it?" The loud laughter never ceased as well as Sakura's banging on the large heavy duty door to be let out. "What _fools_ you all are! You see, we knew from the very start. We just decided to play at your little _game_ and see who would win. But, of course we would win! You may have had a small chance of winning—but Madara _always_ gets what he wants."

His speech was short and fast paced, the crazed look in his yellow eyes told both Itachi and Kakuzu that they had the advantage since they had Zetsu literally trapped in the corner. Slowly, Itachi lowered his pistol from Zetsu, "Calm down…" he could see Zetsu tense up further as the cardinal red eyed man slowly stepped closer to them as he lowered himself and placed the gun on the floor, "All we want—"

A loud gunshot was heard as Kakuzu shouted, "Go Pein, get her out _now_!" Kakuzu had kept a gun hidden on him at all times and took advantage of Itachi's stalling to catch the green haired man off guard as he shot him, but unfortunately missed any critical or fatal areas and had shot him on his upper leg instead. The revolver dropped as did Zetsu from the sudden pain in his leg. Quickly taking Kakuzu's command, Pein jammed the key into the keyhole and attempted to turn the knob.

Realization hadn't hit him until Kakuzu and Itachi forcefully shoved him into the black car and drove off further away from the vicinity. It all happened too quickly for his mind to currently put the order of things together. All he could remember was that Zetsu had taken a cheap shot at Kakuzu while on the floor in pain and hit his arm. At that point, everything else was a blur from Itachi's shout of retreat and Kakuzu's heavy pained breaths as the two of them had to drag Pein out of the shrill cries of the alarm from the building. He glanced to the empty seat next to him and ringed eyes widened as a heavy weight had dropped into his stomach.

_Sakura's door had a different lock. He had a different key. __**She was still in her white room.**_

* * *

Well, I promised I would update on Monday… A little bit late, I apologize—but it's still Monday! Thank you so much for the support so far. However, I do have a quick question for readers of fanfiction:

How do you guys know when a fanfiction has updated a new chapter?

I know some of you guys check your email, or you review and check your review history for that little orange flag, but I've always been curious. If it'll help, I could reply to reviews as soon as a chapter has been put up so you guys would know when it's been updated? Not sure. I hope the pace at the end wasn't too quick, and the pace in the beginning wasn't too slow.


	12. Are Lies

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 12 — Are Lies_

She's still in her white room. She's still in her white room. She's still in her white room. She's still in her white room. _Sakura is still back in that hell._ The orange haired man couldn't help but feel the words repeat over and over again in his thoughts as he began to feel faint and nauseas. He did not know they were currently after Itachi had screeched the tires to a quick stop and got them all out of the car and into an unknown building. Kakuzu could still be heard from the corner of the dimly lit room hissing in pain and clutching a rag at his bleed arm while Itachi called someone on the phone, speaking in a calm, yet urgent voice. _Sakura is still in her white room._ Pein looked around quickly; grey ringed eyes frantically glanced from Kakuzu in the corner to Itachi out in the hall on his cell phone. _Sakura is still in her white room._ He looked around and examined the room closely in hopes of abandoning the repeated words that he so horrifically knew already—he didn't need to be reminded multiple times. _Sakura is still in her white room._ The room began to spin as Pein gripped the wall with a clenched hand, the other holding his head from the spinning as he began to see spots. _Sakura is still in her white room._

At this point, Itachi had calmly walked back with a large first aid kit and knelt in front of Kakuzu, glancing from behind to see their fiery orange haired leader looking sick. He turned back and began helping the injured man tend his wounds to the best of his mediocre abilities as he spoke, "Tsunade is on her way to the research center. I was just on the phone with h—"

"Why." Pein managed to utter out. It was no question, but rather more of a demand. "Sakura is still in her room. Why."

Kakuzu hissed at the alcohol soaked cotton swab while it was dabbed lightly on his bloody arm. "We weren't expecting Zetsu. We had to get out of there fast."

"He was injured. You shot him."

"And did you see how quickly he recovered? I only had one bullet."

"Itachi had a gun as well," Pein quickly retaliated as his focus became clear while he got his answers to his demands.

"Zetsu managed to kick it somewhere in the dark."

"We outnumbered him. We could have taken him down."

Itachi raised an eyebrow towards Pein as he wrapped up his masked companion's arm, "I don't think you completely remember Zetsu, Pein-san. When you get in a fight with Zetsu, it's like fighting with two different people, maybe even more." The oddly grey skinned man used to be fairly well known back many years ago when he filmed many nature documentaries about surviving in the wilderness. It wasn't until his documentaries got cut short when he was abandoned in the forest with only a small camera crew of three random people. Nonetheless, they continued filming. It wasn't until Zetsu was starved enough and unable to sustain his hunger that he hunted down and ate the camera crew in one day—three people for three meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. A shiver ran down Kakuzu's spine at the memory of the discovery long ago when the Akatsuki had stumbled upon the socially inept and awkward grass green haired man days later who revealed the documentary films of his cannibalism. They only took him in because he was a phenomenal tracker. No one really knew if Zetsu still ate people, and no one dared ask him.

"Look," Itachi sighed and walked towards Pein, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Sakura-san will be fine. Zetsu does not have the key to her room and he is still injured. Tsunade-san probably has kept the key with her or at least knows where the key is."

Pein clenched his fist and glared dead on into Itachi's cardinal red eyes, letting out a small growl, "You better be right."

…

_They left her._ Sakura could feel her heart drop down to the depths of her stomach as she felt her knees buckle from her weight. There was heavy breathing coming from the outside of her still locked room and all she could do was to stay as still as possible in hopes of this obvious enemy forgetting her. Seconds built up into minutes as the heavy breathing increased to coughing and hisses of pain along with constant clicks that she assumed was from a cell phone. As the clicking from the cell phone drowned out the heavy breathing, she soon began to relax, but it was replaced with anger. Never before in her white peaceful world had she ever experienced anger.

_They left her._ The white walls began to blend together and bright yellow stars appeared in her vision. Frustration and anger rushed through her veins but that feeling that caused tears to slide down her pale face was betrayal. Out of everyone in the entire world, she would have thought that it was Pein that she trusted the most. Apparently she had been wrong—the feeling of betrayal was all too familiar.

…

_ "Everyone put your hands up. Don't move or I'll do something you will all regret," he spoke, the foul words coming out of his mouth. "Hidan, Sasori, Kakuzu, take what we need only and we'll be leaving." Sakura had recognized that all too familiar voice. It was the same one that reminded her of a smooth note played on a cello that soothed her away her stress. However, the words he had said did not match up with the soothing tone that he produced. _

_ Sakura's short pink locks whipped around quickly as her head turned, jade green eyes widening in shock as she saw who she thought was someone who wouldn't harm a fly, but there he was holding a gun pointed straight at a near crying man who earlier made the exclamation of the Akatsuki's arrival. "I said quiet," Pein muttered, pressing the gun closer towards the captive man's head. Emerald eyes scanned Pein, searching in hopes that this was a phony—a fake, a clone, anything to indicate that __**he**__ was not the Pein that Sakura shared a home with. Eventually, she finally caught sight of the tell-tale signs of a familiar red cloud stitched on his jacket's sleeve. The other men that had accompanied him looked vaguely familiar that she had seen on occasion in their home—in __**his**__ home, in __**her**__ home? They acted quickly and followed Pein's order of filling up burlap sack after burlap sack of money. It wasn't until she noticed that one of the criminals was missing and out of sight. _

_ "Oi," a call was heard from further away behind her. "I found the vault." A white haired mahogany color eyed man walked out, passing by Sakura and quickly spared her a glance before returning them to Pein's grey ringed ones. She remembered his name was Hidan and had a mouth that would shame any drunken sailor. _

_ Sakura could have sworn she saw a look of regret in Hidan's mahogany eyes when they passed each other only for Pein to be walking straight towards her. Everyone in the bank was too terrified to see the angered and betrayed seafoam eyes that the petal haired girl portrayed. She clenched her fists at her side between the counter she sat at. The familiar grey ringed eyes softened for a smidgen of a second before hardening again, worry glassed over by the rings. Finally, Pein spoke, "Sakura." _

_ She refused to respond—no matter how tempting it was to scream, yell and hit his chest over and over again out of frustration. In that very instant, she felt horribly sick when she saw Pein raise the gun with shaking hands. _

…

Tsunade clutched the research center's front door handle for the longest time before finally entering as silently as she possibly could. The blonde was certainly far from happy that only half of their mission was complete. The other half still lay inside her white prison, but a sense of relief filled her when she saw from the observation room filled with monitors and televisions that showed Sakura still lying in the corner of her room, curled up in a little ball and barely moved, eerily silent. She still had a chance to rescue her surrogate daughter.

Gripping a heavy handgun close to her, Tsunade slipped out of the observation room with Sakura's room key she had hid in a medical book in the three hundred twenty-eighth page in order to prevent anyone from reaching Sakura's room. She had expected the Akatsuki was smart enough to find the key or at least had enough time to lock pick the door, however that didn't seem to be the case with Zetsu bombarding the entire plan. She pressed her back against the wall and took a deep breath, hazelnut eyes focusing in the dimly lit hallway as she turned into the corner and began venturing forward, handgun pointed forward, a miniature flashlight in her other hand as that arm rested between the handgun to keep it steady.

As she approached Sakura's door, eyes widened to see it open slightly ajar, the white light in the room flickering every so often. Tsunade quickly burst into the room and had to try hard to not shoot as she saw the same eerie maroon eyes and shaggy black mane that draped over the man's face. Tsunade hissed at this, "Madara." Said man held a still Sakura close to him, one large hand wrapped around both of her tiny wrists as the other pat her long pink locks. Sakura looked to be in a daze with a faraway look in her eyes. She couldn't shoot and risk Sakura getting hit as well, especially at how close Madara was keeping her.

Madara smirked, not glancing up as he stroked long pink locks, "Shush, don't you see? She remembers me. I decided to go along with your little plan of 'relocation', and decided I would like to relocate Sakura elsewhere."

"How did you get in?" Tsunade growled.

"I always keep spare keys to this facility that I _provided_ for you, Tsunade." His constant stroking and petting Sakura made Tsunade feel uncomfortable, almost as if he treated her like an animal, a pet.

"How did you know about this…? You were supposed to be out of the city." She cursed at her shaky voice and reinforced it with a cold glare.

Madara finally stopped patting Sakura's head and flipped out his cell phone at a text message screen from Zetsu. "I know almost everything that goes on in here."

Hazelnut eyes widened a bit as she glanced around the white flickering room to see now signs of the green haired man. Bile rose in her throat as she felt a dark presence from behind her. Before she could turn around, pain ruptured from the back of her head as she fell forward, her handgun getting kicked out of her hands. Tsunade looked up with blurry vision to see familiar yellow eyes and grassy hair. "I'm not obligated to hurt women—but whatever Madara-sama says, goes," Zetsu muttered, then let out a loud laugh, "What an opportunity to see such a powerful person fall! I hope it didn't hurt too much, but guessing from the blood that you're spitting out, it probably hurt a lot, haha!" Immediately, Tsunade knew that this man had mental issues.

Madara gently and slowly let go of Sakura's now bruised wrists and turned her to face Tsunade that was getting beaten up. He lightly pushed back long petal-like bangs out of her face as he forced her head to look up and face Tsunade. "Do you see this, Sakura?" Madara muttered closely to her ear as he leaned in close.

Dazed seafoam eyes focused back and horror struck as she recognized the familiar blonde haired woman from a recollected memory of her time in the hospital room. "Tsu…nade?"

Pained brown eyes looked up to see terror in jaded ones as her name was hesitantly called out. It had seemed like forever since she had heard Sakura utter her name out in remembrance. She wasn't sure how much she had remembered, but enough to remember her name and hopefully enough to realize how much she loved and cared for her being. "S-Sakura, get out of here," she whimpered as Zetsu continuously kicked at her fracturing ribs.

"Ah," Zetsu grinned, stomping roughly on both of Tsunade's legs that resulted in loud cracks. "I sincerely apologize, but we can't have you running away. I'm sure you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

Madara's maroon eyes glinted at the horrified face Sakura was giving. He kept the hair out of her face, hands still holding her head as he continued to mutter into her ear, "Yes. Tsunade is your surrogate mother who took you after that little accident; the same woman who put you through this _experiment_ with the same man that had tried to kill you before. What was his name? Do you remember little Sa-ku-ra?"

Sakura grimaced at the sight of the handgun that had been kicked at her bare feet earlier. She remembered the most recent recollected memory of Pein raising that shaking gun at her. Had he really tried to kill her? "Pein… But, I trusted him and he trusted me."

"Manipulation is an _awful_ thing Sakura-chan," Madara stressed.

Tsunade growled, "Don't listen to him—he's a bad—" a heavy pressure was put against her dirty hair and soon enough, she was motionless. Zetsu frowned at this, but then his grey face broke out in a snicker.

Jaded eyes looked at the familiar maroon eyes in horror and remembered distinctly that this man was Uchiha Madara, the one who had been stalking in her previous life before this 'accident' that she did not remember. "The unknown caller," she muttered in fear, trying to pry her head out of Madara's grip after remembering the frightening call she had received in her recollected memory of when she was with Ino. "You hurt me before—why should I believe anything you say?" she hissed.

Maroon eyes glimmered in fascination at the fire that had erupted in her seafoam eyes. She had remembered more than he had anticipated, but still not enough to understand everything. "Sakura," he gave a deep baritone chuckle, finally letting go of her tangled pink hair to cross his arms, a hand rubbing against his temples as he looked up back at her. "Who has hurt you _more_? Tsunade has put you through hell in this nothingness she calls a 'room'. Pein has tried to _kill_ you. Didn't you say you trusted him?" He received a small nod, the anger still evident in her green eyes. He continued, taking a few surprising steps back from Sakura to give her some much desired space, "You would trust a man who attempted to murder you?"

"I wouldn't trust a man who hurt me either." Sakura spat back, taking tentative steps towards him as if waiting for him to step forward so she could launch an attack.

He ran his hand through his black hair, a small smirk still plastered on his pale face. "If I had wanted to _really_ harm you my dear," he took slow large steps towards Sakura who had changed from being angry to fearful. Gently, he brushed the back of his hand against her smooth ivory skin and used his other to untangle parts of her long locks. "I would have done so by now."

Sakura stiffened at his touch. His hands were eerily smooth unlike the rough calloused ones she remembered from before. Slowly, her shoulders fell and nervous, uncertain emerald eyes gazed into maroon ones. "If what you say is true… Then tell me why you were stalking me before and now."

Madara didn't hold back the rumbled chuckle, dropping his hands to his side but still leaned over closely at the girl who as the mere seconds ticked by, was beginning to look more and more like her older confident self than the lost amnesiac one. "I was only merely trying to _protect_ you my dear. Pein is a very tricky and dangerous man indeed. I had to keep watch on you at all times to make sure he didn't harm you. And, what better way to make sure you do not tell him I was suspicious of him than to instill fear in you?" He gave a slow step closer to her so that he was looking straight down at her with cold maroon eyes. "I know more about you right now than you can even remember. I know that you have a master in criminal psychology. So, you should have known that Pein was up to no good." He murmured before holding out one of his hands, palms facing up as a sign of openness. "Do you trust me, Haruno Sakura?"

Jade eyes finally released itself from his maroon gaze. She looked down at his open hands as a gesture of invitation. She felt her throat begin to tie in tight little knots down to her stomach that squirmed. Did she trust him? What he had told her so far seemed plausible, even if it was a bit of a stretch, but he was right in that he knew more about her than she did herself right now. Sakura looked down behind her shoulder to see Tsunade's limp body and bit her lower lip tentatively. She turned back to see the open hand still there. Looking up, she saw his maroon eyes stare deep into her as a gentle smile began to form on his pale complexion. Sakura gulped before finally answering in a small voice, "I trust you."

* * *

I hope nothing is too confusing so far.

Again, many thanks to the continued support in favorites, alerts and especially reviews! So, here's another question: _How would you feel if I changed the rating to M? If I do, would you like some kind of warning before the chapter and how would you like me to present that warning?_

Next update will be up by Wednesday at the latest. If it's not up by then—keep harassing me about it until it's up! Determined to continue this until the very end.


	13. Are Flame-Broiled

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 13 — Are Flame-Broiled_

That foolish woman had told her to wait. Yelled at her for wanting to be reckless and potentially causing the both of them injured and hurt; told her to call the police after an hour if she was not back. Shizune sucked in a breath after clutching the hospital room door for a long minute. The dark haired woman took a step in and automatically saw her blonde haired mentor bruised and bandaged up. The smooth soft beeps of her vitals were comforting in that it showed that Tsunade was going to be okay, even if it didn't seem like it. She remembered the way her face contorted as the second and minute hands ticked away on the clock roughly a week ago when her mentor had gotten an urgent call from Itachi regarding Sakura. She had told her wait and call for help in an hour if she was not back. She had told her _wait_.

"You idiot," Shizune exhaled after realizing she had been holding it in. Slender fingers held up the clipboard that was attached to the white hospital bed. Quickly scanning the familiar terms her onyx eyes focused on the same word that kept reoccurring. "If I had called the police thirty minutes earlier you probably would be yelling at me right now for not following your instructions. But instead," she took her usual seat next to Tsunade's bed, "I did follow your stupid instructions and it resulted in your coma."

As usual, there was no response from the coma-induced blonde. Shizune let out a sigh. The knots had not untied itself from her stomach since the incident occurred a week ago. She also hadn't been able to contain her anger she felt towards the Akatsuki for leaving Sakura, but she couldn't be any more frustrated and disappointed in herself than anything for not insisting on going with Tsunade.

There was a gentle knock on the door as it opened slightly ajar to reveal familiar red eyes and maroon hair of two different people. Shizune glared at Itachi and Sasori equally before spitting out, "Get out." The Akatsuki had been there several times to try and apologize or at least relay any information, but nothing they could say would have Shizune reveal any information whether she knew any or not.

With a puff of air, Sasori lightly stared down at the opposite corner in prevention from actually glaring at the stubborn woman before walking away, muttering to the Uchiha that he would rather wait patiently in the car than deal with the impatience of Shizune. Itachi raised an eyebrow at the irony before shaking his head and disregarded Shizune's glare. Slowly reaching into the pocket of his slacks, he grabbed a business card and slid it onto the tiny night desk next to Shizune. "Here's my card in case you're finally willing to cooperate," he murmured before stepping back, inclining his head briefly before turning to walk away. Shizune hesitated in taking the card from the night stand and bit her lip, unsure before Itachi looked back over his shoulder and spoke, "Tsunade-san's efforts did not go wasted. There is still a high chance of saving Haruno-san. I am sure that Tsunade-san would have wanted that. You would be doing us a great honor."

Shizune stared at the card for what seemed like forever before finally giving a stiff nod, "I'll… I will give you a call sometime soon."

…

It had taken Pein less than a few days to recall a large portion of his memory; however he still could not remember the last few days of what had happened before this accident among various other details. Recently, he had recalled the memories of his beloved blue haired partner, Konan. He wasn't sure the status of their strange relationship, but he knew that he held a dear place in his heart for her as a close friend and sister-like companion. Her cut cries would not echo out of his thoughts. It had felt like he just lost her yesterday. Then, that memory would replace itself with a dusty fogged up on from a memory of the past.

"Pein-san," a barely audible voice was heard as his door creaked open. "You really need to eat. You barely ate anything since…" Deidara bit his lip, mentally slapping himself for mentioning such an incident. He walked over to the mentally scarred man, placing a comforting hand upon his shoulder and placed a plate of kagaare on his desk. Grey ringed eyes scanned the dish and his mouth felt bitter.

"What is it?" he mumbled, barely nodding his messy orange head towards the Japanese dish. Deidara could not cook—he burned and exploded things rather than cook. He remembered the only ones that knew how to cook in the Akatsuki were himself, Itachi, Sasori, Kisame and Konan; but of course, she was gone.

Deidara raised an eyebrow in interest but shrugged, "Kisame made it. It's fish karaage."

…

_ "Idiot!" a shrill voice shouted, a soft blue shade of hair flew everywhere as the girl smacked him. "Karaage is meant to be flame broiled, not grilled—at least for fish." Was there really a difference between the two cooking techniques? Pein scowled at the girl, ringed eyes attempted to stare her down but he knew that it never worked. Konan was one of the few kids their age that played with him and had easily learned to tolerate his stubbornness. Then again, he was the only one that would play with her too because he dealt easily with her abrasiveness._

_ "Now now, there's no need to fight you little munchkins," a much taller and older man walked into the messy kitchen, his white scruffy hair stood out amongst his yellow frog pajamas. He had taken in both of the young children from an orphanage that had no room after no one had decided to adopt the strange duo. However, there had been once where Pein was signed off a rich couple, but ended back up in the orphanage after yelling and shouting and exclaiming that they had to adopt Konan as well. And now, the two kids ended up staying in his already cramped apartment space while the orphanage was under a light renovation for expansion. "There isn't much of a difference between flame broiling and grilling though, Konan-chan. Besides, karaage is supposed to be fried." _

_ Konan frowned at this and threw a nasty glare at the man before sighing, eventually giving him a respectful bow, "Jiraya-san," she looked back up again with her dark grey eyes with more determination than ever and thrust the greasy frying pan in accusation at said older man and shouted, "Karaage can be flame broiled or grilled too—if you wanted it to. Normal karaage is gross and unhealthy anyways. And there is a large difference between flame broiled and grilled!" _

_ Pein rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and lips pouted, "And what would that be?" _

_ "The taste." _

…

Deidara had already left by the time Pein decided to pick up the heavy fork from the plate's edge and cut through the fried fish karaage before taking a steaming bite. It only took a few seconds to register the taste before he forced himself to swallow. He dropped the fork back onto the unfinished plate before pushing it further away on the desk, curling up in his armchair and leaning his forehead onto his knees. Konan was right—fried karaage wasn't very appetizing. Normally, he would just deal with it and eat to restrain his hunger pangs, but the memory was too painful. His stomach had been filled with rough metal chains of connected and disconnected memories of his past and yet on almost a majority of them, he saw that haunting hue of pink.

Pein almost regretted leaving his dark room from his dark but warm corner. He missed listening closely for her calls, her giggles and before all that, the warmth of her presence and aura that seemed to seep through the cracks between the walls. He almost regretted leaving—almost. If he had not left, he would have never recovered the other wonderful memories of Sakura. It was enjoyable but haunting all at once. He distinctly remembered her light herbal scented shampoo contrasted sharply with her nectarine body wash and lavender smelling clothes. The amalgam of aromas blended together well to comfort him though. All of these memories brought him a great sense of nostalgia as well as a great sense of pain and responsibility. The Akatsuki finally split from Madara's control after Pein had assumed his usual leadership role once again.

Lifting his head, grey ringed eyes traveled over to the now cold dish and sighed. Standing up, he reached to lift the plate but stopped as soon as Itachi entered the office. Cardinal eyes stared into ringed ones, "Shizune-san has confirmed that she will cooperate. Due to Tsunade-san's inability to function, she has taken her place temporarily and is granting us access to her files regarding Madara."

"Schedule a meeting with Shizune as soon as possible. I want every single remaining member of the Akatsuki present." Pein regained focus, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he began mentally planning and preparing of what was to be found.

"Understood," Itachi confirmed in a brusque nod, turning but before leaving he held the door slightly ajar and turned over his shoulder. "It's good to have you back, Pein-sama."

…

The days that flew slowly flew by was filled with nothing but luxurious meals and the most expensive wines and sake. Sakura would have jumped with glee at the rich comforts of her new living space due to Madara's obvious wealth, but she was unable to force the happiness. Instead, memories she had already recollected before kept popping back in her mind for her to stomach down. She didn't need to remember those _false_ memories of happiness. Or at least she thought were false. At points such as these, she wasn't sure what was true or false anymore. The only memories she had regained were childhood ones with now familiar faces from sky blue eyes of Ino to her older friend and ex-teacher Kakashi.

"You haven't touched your wine," a baritone voice bounced off the walls.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts, finally looking up into the maroon eyes she was once so afraid of, "I'm not thirsty."

"Your food is getting cold."

"I'm not hungry."

Madara frowned at this, calmly setting down his fork and knife. "You have seemed far-away lately. Tell me, where have your thoughts taken you this evening Sa-ku-ra?" he stressed every syllable in her name, hoping to aggravate the pastel haired girl internally. His tell-tale smirk crawled its way back to his face as he saw her shoulders stiffen visibly. When he received no response, he stood up from his seat, gliding towards the girl and placed a hand on her rigid shoulder. "The human mind is an interesting subject, isn't it? It's much different from the human body. On the body, you can inflict pain," the knife next to Sakura's left hand had disappeared and landed itself close to the right of her face as it made a slow light cut on her cheek. She hissed in pain, a narrow trickle of blood traveled down her cheek. "But the physical scars just heal. You harm the human mind, however…" Madara gently placed his hands on both sides of Sakura's head to keep her still, "Mental scars remain forever."

"What," Sakura squeezed her jaded eyes shut and hoped this moment would end soon. It was the first time Madara had attempted to physically hurt her. "What do you want…?"

"Your memories, my dear," he chuckled, slowly caressing her long pink locks. "I want you to remember Pein as the horribly awful man that he is. I want you to _hate_ him, Sakura."

"Why?" she whimpered, his grip on her head began to hurt. Everything was becoming confusing again. Her memories began to mix together in an array of colors, words and sound. Nothing was clear.

Madara finally let go of Sakura, carefully turning her chair so that her entire body faced him. He lifted her pained head to make eye contact before smiling, "I have unfinished business with Pein."

"What does that have to do with me though?"

"You just happened to wander into this little… 'battle' between him and I and you just so happened to have what we both are fighting for." He started playing with the tips of her pink hair, looking bored as he dropped the strand and faced her once again. Madara saw her porcelain complexion contort in confusion at the situation. He answered her mental question, "_The code_ Sakura. We want the code to the bank vault you previously worked at."

…

"The code," Pein muttered, hands folded neatly in front of his mouth as he continued. "The only reason why Madara is so interested in Sakura is because of her previous job at the bank. She's one of the few people who knows the code." For her young age, she was extremely privileged and that was mainly because of her closeness to Tsunade who had high power in the village. Unfortunately, the blonde haired woman did not have the power to overthrow the tyrant Danzou that dictated Konoha. Of course, the Akatsuki was well known as a criminal organization, but they were only called a 'criminal' group because they defied Danzou's laws. The old man had caused the city and many bordering cities much trouble and disrupted the peace in many other bordering nations.

Across the long mahogany table, Shizune grew tense at Pein's blatant reason for her capture. It was as if he was not worried or concerned for Sakura's well-being, but under the steely exterior, Shizune knew better. She had seen Pein's look of anguish and worry several times from the cameras back at the research center to know he truly cared about Sakura. He was just an exceedingly phenomenal actor right now. Her shoulders relaxed just slightly before responding, "Sakura is a smart girl. She will not tell Madara the code whether she remembers or not."

"Even if she remembers or not, we must retrieve her back from Madara," Kakuzu interrupted. As greedy and as cheap as the stubborn man was, he never went back on his word to Pein long ago of the promise to keep Sakura safe from Madara. The guilt had been burdening him growing heavier upon his shoulders as each day passes by without the pink haired woman in Pein's grasps.

"Do you have an idea where Madara is, Shizune-san?" Kisame asked. Before he became a criminal in the eyes of Danzou and Konoha, he had traveled relentlessly around the world and its crevices and had discovered many things as well as formed many close and trustworthy connections. He had never found a place he could call home than with the Akatsuki where his loyalty lies.

Shizune gave a nod, pulling out manila folders and slid them towards the blue-grey toned man, "Tsunade has kept an eye of the types of car he has driven to the research center. So far, all I know is that he has two preferred vehicles that he personally drives: a black Kia Optima and a dark grey Cadillac. Heading out of the research center's only exit out of the parking lot is a two way street, he almost always heads left of that and goes on forward towards the west of the city." Quickly, she handed out another folder and slides it over across the long table towards Pein. "These are the dates and exact times in which Madara checks in and leaves the research center. He is an extremely busy man, so I am safely assuming that he leaves during his breaks to visit and see the research center's progress."

Pein quickly gazed over the neatly organized charts while Itachi carefully glanced over and hummed in recognition. Grey ringed eyes locked with cardinal reds, encouraging him to speak up. Itachi nodded, "We have two alternatives. One is that Madara is hiding Sakura in his home, or his get-away home. His home is located towards the west from the research center, however I am unsure as to where his other home is… If we can utilize the times that he is away such as these given times that Tsunade-san and Shizune-san has recorded from 16:15 to 15:00, then we can at least sneak into his actual home while he is away and gather more information."

"That is extremely risky," Sasori narrowed his amber eyes at Itachi. "What makes you think that he is at home all the time and not at work? If he is working then we can use it and extend our own research time and infiltrate." Forty-five minutes was definitely not enough time for them to invade Madara's home while he was away. Not to mention giving ten minutes at the beginning and end of the allotted time to make sure he is away and to make sure they escape without leaving a trace of existence. That would only give them roughly fifteen minutes total.

The Uchiha rested his head on his palm, closing his tired eyes and heaved a sigh, "Because he works from home. Chances are, he is never away from Sakura-san's side at this point…"

"Not unless the company he is working for calls him in for a meeting." Shizune perked up.

"What company _does_ that shit stain work for anyways?" Hidan muttered.

Itachi grimaced at this, "The Uchiha company, of course." At this point, all eyes laid upon said Uchiha in eagerness. Of course they would target the only Uchiha in the vicinity. "I no longer work for the company. I detached myself from that part of the family branch long ago." He reminded them. It was a bitter memory, but he had done it for his younger brother's sake of growing up well into a luxurious and plentiful life. His father had hated the fact that he had given up on inheriting the company name because he was the eldest, but Itachi saw how much it would benefit his baby brother Sasuke instead and so he gave it up not just for Sasuke's sake, but also to pursue his own dream as a world renowned lawyer. Not to mention that Sasuke was much happier despite his exterior apathy towards the situation, but in fact the boy owed him a favor—a _large_ favor for his altruistic deeds.

"Isn't there anything you could do?" Pein murmured, finally breaking the silence in the room.

Itachi shook his head, but a smirk was graced upon his features, "No, but I do know my foolish baby brother can do something."

* * *

I honestly had the most difficult time writing this chapter because I was on the verge of a writer's block. I _think_ I've got it somewhat planned out now. I got all detective-mode towards the end, especially after finishing an anime series called Psycho-Pass, and I'm currently watching Ergo Proxy.

The rating will **not** change. I was going to plan on writing a future lemon in this, but decided against it. It wouldn't be fit for the situation, so I'll save the lemons for my other fanfiction _Harlequin_ which is a MadaSaku.

**Next chapter will be up by Monday the latest.** Thanks so much for those sweet enough to leave a review! It really keeps me going!


	14. Is Chivalry

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 14 — Is Chivalry_

_"What exactly do you see in that punk?" a curt voice resonated in the small room. "He's a delinquent. You should know that, Forehead." _

_ A frown graced her lips, letting out a sigh as Sakura responded, "You just don't get it. He's more than just a 'delinquent'. He's clever and charming. What I don't understand is how you manage to get engaged to that lazy sloth of yours, Pig." The blonde and dark haired pair was an odd and complicated duo, but they worked together like the opposite ends of magnets. Ino and Shikamaru had been dating since their junior year in high school after Shikamaru had to continuously tutor the poor girl to get a proper grade. Eventually rumors spread that one of the most popular girl in class was dating the class genius and Ino had decided to stop caring about her reputation. _

_ Ino rolled her sky blue eyes, resting her head in one of her open palms as she gave a thoughtful look, "Well, Shikamaru is…" she hummed, a faint blush spread across her cheeks and nose. "He's clever and charming." The petal haired girl gave her best friend an expectant look at the familiar words. Ino scowled, "Okay fine, I _guess_ I understand what you mean. But Sakura, I don't want you to get hurt."_

_ Jade eyes softened at the blue gaze, "Being in a relationship, or just showing affection towards a person you care about is enough to put you at risk of getting hurt. Regardless what happens, it's that hurt that gets people further in life. Tsunade-shishou told me that." _

_ "Pein is dangerous though Sakura-chan," Ino murmured, concern evident on her face. "He hangs around these conspicuous looking people and I'm almost positive I saw one of them on a wanted list." _

_ "He wouldn't hurt a fly," Sakura muttered, taking a sip out of her tea cup. She grimaced at the bitter taste. She had let it steep for too long. "Besides, he's quite chivalrous when he wants to be." As surprising as it was, Pein was an extremely well-mannered gentleman as rebellious looking as he seemed with his choice in clothing and the abundance of piercings. She distinctly remembered a time when he gave her his large leather jacket one a cold night when the two of them were walking home. She began to frown, "There are a couple times when he is a dick though…" Recollections swarmed her thoughts of the time Pein purposefully pushed her into the swimming pool and claimed that she was complaining about the heat too much. He did, however, help pull her out only for her to yank him in the water._

_ "Aren't all men?" Ino rolled her eyes again. The two of them chuckled in understanding. _

…

Emerald green eyes held in a sigh as she gazed out of the window and onto the busy streets of Konoha. The memory was bittersweet. Again, she had been cooped up in the luxurious house for a little over a week and at every request of her leaving the house was a blunt answer of no. Madara had tried several times to subtly ask her about the code, but she would respond with a blatant, "I don't remember." Often times, the Uchiha thought she was lying but she made it a point that if she remembered, she would tell him in order to gain freedom again and to see her friends; the ones that probably forgot about her.

From across the room, Madara couldn't focus on work for the business at all with his pixie-like captive constantly sighing and looking gloomy. Each time he kept glancing up from his writing or from the computer screen, he would see her facial expression seeming reminiscent and then gloomy and bored. He would typically have someone watch over her while he worked, but the only ally with him was Zetsu and his way of working was questionable. Glancing back up, he noticed Sakura beginning to attempt repressing her sighs. This only made him smirk. "Sakura-san," he spoke, seeing her shoulders tense up immediately at the sound of his voice. "You're bored."

"Of course I'm bored," she muttered, trying not to spit back in an array of curses. The bittersweet memories constantly resurfaced and brought her much longing pain. She won't deny the fact that she misses Pein, but she also will not forget that he had left her back at the research center.

Madara swiftly stood up, adjusting his maroon silk tie and eventually loosened it, "Well then, how about we take a walk around the city park then?" He offered, beginning to feel stuffed up in his home office.

Sakura perked up, light eyebrows rose up in surprise, "You mean outside?" He had been so adamant about her staying indoors; she began to wonder why the sudden change of heart. She didn't want him to take his offer back, and so she decided to answer quickly, "Yes. I mean… Can we go to the zoo instead?" It was sudden—the idea of going to the zoo rather than a park.

He grimaced, "The _zoo_?" Why would she choose such a disease-ridden place to go out to? He had gone to plenty of zoos as a child, even got to visit the natural habitats of many of those animals around the world, but never once had he gone to visit the city's zoo.

"Yes, Konoha Wildlife Zoo," the words felt nostalgic and familiar on her lips. "It sounds familiar. Like a recent memory."

Maroon eyes flickered in interest at this information, "Konoha Wildlife Zoo… I suppose we can visit if it serves to help recover your memories." He let out an exasperated sigh, looking at a smiling Sakura from his peripheral vision. This had better be worth his time.

…

It had been ages since Itachi had to contact Sasuke. The last time was several years ago because his mother Mikoto demanded a lunch out with her sons. Sasuke was reluctant, but Itachi was a complete mama's boy. Of course, he would never admit that. However, the contact between the two was minimal at best. The two didn't despise each other, quite the opposite in fact Itachi was always the protective older brother while Sasuke held a secret admiration. Again, of course the either of them would never admit anything. What was strange was that conversations and interactions between the two were practically nonexistent.

The only person who understood this within the criminal organization was none other than his partner in crime and friend, Kisame. The man wasn't the wisest, but he wasn't an idiot to see that Itachi was uncomfortable. "Itachi-san," he grumbled, giving his long haired friend a look of concern. "You know that we can find other ways to contact Sasuke, right?" Of course, there was always Uzumaki Naruto who would be more than willing to help for the sake of Sakura's safety.

The man shook his head, looking up at Kisame and muttered, "I appreciate your concern, Kisame. I just need to do this. On the brighter side, mother will be happy that we are talking again." Despite the rumors of Itachi remaining stoic and emotionless, he was actually a very optimistic man and cynical Kisame grew to appreciate it.

Eyes rolled at this and a sigh escaped. "Whatever you say, Uchiha. All of you are mama's boys are the same anyway." Kisame mumbled and walked away from the room.

The Uchiha let out a breath of air before picking up his cell phone and with a couple of light clicks of the phone, the familiar smooth voice of his baby brother could be heard, "Sasuke."

"Aniki."

…

"He wants you to _what_?!"

A hand ran through his short dark hair in annoyance, "I _know_ dobe." Sasuke just got off the phone with his brother. To say that he was surprised when he saw the caller ID was an understatement. He could even say that he was a little happy that his aniki finally. The relationship between his older brother and himself was unfortunately cut off short during a young age when Itachi gave up his high position in the family corporation in pursuit of his dreams. Back then, Sasuke was too young to realize that Itachi had given up the position for his future as well. It was no doubt that his generation was finding it more difficult to settle down with a solid job. Fortunately, many of his friends also had family businesses they worked for, or they were largely successful at what they did such as Lee's tae kwon do studio and Sai's art pieces. He was glad that he didn't have to be one of those people and that he had the door of opportunity open for him—all because of his altruistic and selfless brother. He owed him anyways.

His spiky blonde haired companion had stayed silent for a while before speaking up, "Why does he want you to call in a meeting with a majority of the upper branch Uchihas anyways? He's not even working for the company anymore." Naruto shoveled more ramen into his mouth. It had been a peaceful lunch break up until the older Uchiha had called.

Sasuke sighed, picking up his chopsticks and picked around his bento lunch his mother insisted on packing. "It's… about Sakura."

The slurping stopped and cerulean eyes grew dark, setting his eating utensils down and looked seriously at his friend, "Sakura-chan…" It had been a long time since the two talked about the missing piece of their dynamic trio. It was almost a curse mentioning her name. Ever since the accident had happened and Tsunade had taken them into her custody after months of legal documents and agreements, the two of them made a silent agreement to mention little about Sakura as possible. It had not only upset the two of them, but it also upset Sasuke's mother and both of Naruto's parents among many of their other friends. "What about her…? Are they finally letting her out?"

A grim expression surfaced on Sasuke's face in response, "No… My uncle has her for some reason."

"Uchiha Madara?" the name was almost a curse itself.

"Ah. I understand that Madara funded Tsunade's custody and research… But why would he only take Sakura and not Pein?" Out of all of Sakura's wide group of friends, Naruto and Sasuke had been the few that accepted her unannounced relationship with the rebellious looking man after meeting him just once long ago at her birthday party. He was skeptical at first, but it wasn't until after Naruto and Pein got in a heated discussion about the politics in Konoha, he saw the fiery passion in both pairs of eyes and saw the trust that began to form in Naruto's. If the Uzumaki trusted the ring eyed man, then so would he. Pein was nothing but polite and a complete gentleman, just as Sakura had reassured them several times. It didn't mean that he _liked_ the orange haired man. He just approved of him.

"Itachi didn't have time to give me all the details, but apparently they have Pein and he has regained a majority of his memories. They couldn't save Sakura in time." Sasuke grumbled, looking at the clock to see that his lunch break was near ending before picking up his mother's homemade onigiri. "They are working on sneaking Sakura back to Pein, but to do that they need Madara out of the picture."

Naruto caught on quickly, "And because you have the power to assemble meetings… It will force Madara out of his home and away from Sakura-chan!" He quickly broke out in a fox-like grin, the whisker-like markings on his cheeks curved as his face lit up with glee. "We get to see Sakura-chan again!"

"That doesn't mean she remembers us dobe."

…

_"Ne, don't you think the petting zoo is a little lame teme?" a blonde haired boy whined, arms crossed as he pouted. His small white shirt was wrinkled from constantly playing around and his baggy cargo shorts dirty from rolling around on the ground. _

_ "Watch your language dobe," a dark haired boy sneered, arms crossed haughtily and his pointed nose stuck up before glaring, "kaa-chan says that it's not polite to swear in front of ladies." He nodded his head over to their small pink haired companion. _

_ "'Lady'… But Sakura-chan is a _girl_." _

_ "Naruto!" she pouted, "Sasuke-kun is right. Well, his kaa-chan is right, it's not polite to swear in front of _ladies_, but it's just as bad for you to fight back Sasuke." She removed the suffix, showing that she was serious and threw a glare over her shoulder at Sasuke who flinched. _

_ "Let's just go to the stupid petting zoo," Sasuke muttered. "Dobe will blend in with the pigs anyways." _

_ "HEY!" Naruto growled, "At least I won't blend in with the chickens—what with you and your chicken butt hair." _

_ "Ramen-breath!" _

_ "Mama's boy!" _

_ "Fatty!"_

_ "Teme!"_

_ "Dobe!"_

_ Their name-calling was interrupted with a soft giggle. The two of them turned to glare at a giggling Sakura. She gave them both a wide grin, green eyes hidden behind her lids that creased in a smile. Her hands folded behind her back as she continued giggling, "I love you guys."_

…

"Let's go to the petting zoo," Sakura's jade eyes glimmered in delight as they entered the zoo. Memories began flooding back to her of the time she and two boys went to the zoo with their parents. Unfortunately, it didn't bring back any recent memories about the code, but the nostalgic childhood memories she recovered made her happy.

Madara grimaced and let out another heavy sigh. He ran a hand through his thick long hair before checking the time. "Let's just hurry up…" He already hated being in the zoo. Why did he allow this? However, those thoughts were put to rest as soon as he heard a lilt sounding giggle. His head snapped towards the source and saw Sakura crouched down feeding baby carrots to a herd of rabbits that surrounded her. Madara immediately took in her smile. The soft expression she wore suited her, he decided.

Almost instantly, his cell phone buzzed loudly in his pocket. He was intent on ignoring it and focusing back on Sakura until he saw the caller ID. Maroon eyes glowered at the sight and resisted a scowl before answering, "Sasuke, my nephew."

"Madara," his voice was curt.

"To what do I owe this pleasure of such a surprise call from my loveable nephew?" Madara smirked, almost cooing through the phone. He loved teasing and testing Sasuke ever since he was little. He remembered Itachi always scolded and yelled at him for making Sasuke cry.

Sasuke's tone darkened, "There is going to be a company branch meeting in an hour. I apologize for such short notice, but we have many important matters to discuss in order to reorganize each worker of our branch."

Madara raised an eyebrow, "I'm afraid I may have to call in absent for this meeting." He turned to see Sakura grinning and petting a tiny white lamb.

"I've checked your absence in meetings lately, and it says that you've used up your absence amount," it sounded like he was smirking through the phone, "Regardless, every Uchiha of this branch must be present for this meeting no matter what. We even have Shisui flying back from Kiri to attend this meeting."

Dark eyebrows rose at this and then there was silence. Was he lying? He couldn't be if he was that willing to stretch a possible lie that far to claim that Shisui was flying back. It had been a long time since he saw the man anyways. "Fine."

"Conference room 7B. One hour."

* * *

Sorry this is up a little bit late—but it's still Monday! Apologies that this is a bit short. I had to watch my sister's puppy this weekend and he is always constantly playing. Thanks to those who favorite and alerted, and also thanks to many of you guys who are lovely enough to review~

**Next chapter will be up by Friday the latest.** Updates may be a little less frequent because band camp is this Sunday and I need to prepare for school starting.

Just out of curiosity, but I've wondered who my audience is in regards to age/grade/gender wise. I always try my best to cater to my audience in my writing, so the first couple of chapters are always the toughest to write.


	15. There Is No 'We'A Gentle Child

**Between the Walls**

_Chapter 15 — There is No 'We'/A Gentle Child_

The conference room smelled of freshly printed paper with a nuance of cinnamon. Naruto had to leave to go back to work after he got a stern phone call from Minato, his father, to start heading back to work. Unlike Sasuke's father who was sitting in front of him in the conference room, Minato cared for Naruto's happiness more than his reputation and so instead of immediately putting him the head of a branch in the Uzumaki toy corporation after high school, he put Naruto to work at Ichiraku, the tiny ramen stand next to the toy company. He remembered Minato's words to a disappointed Naruto, _"With great opportunity comes with great responsibilities."_ Of course, the blonde took that as a challenge and eagerly accepted it without realizing that it was a ruse for Naruto to work off all of his ramen debts.

"Sasuke-kuuuuun!"

Said person twitched at the all too familiar voice and responded back, "Shisui. Welcome back to Konoha." He looked like he was doing well. His skin was slightly paler than before, but that due to the lack of sun in Kiri and his dark short hair was as messy as ever. "The meeting will start in ten minutes." He handed out some documents to his father, Shisui and some others who had arrived early. The meeting was just a filler meeting, but none of the Uchihas knew this other than Sasuke who was holding this meeting. It was supposed to last long enough for his older brother and his friends to sneak Sakura out.

"Oi, how's Itachi been little cousin?" Sasuke shot a glare at Shisui's small talk with darkening onyx eyes. "I heard he's a pretty renowned lawyer now."

With a sharp click of a pen, Fugaku narrowed his stern eyes and muttered, "Let's just get this meeting over with, shall we Sasuke?" It obvious the mention of Itachi was still a little taboo and it made his father feel uncomfortable. He was extremely unhappy when his eldest son decided to drop out of the Uchiha company business in pursuit of his own dreams. In fact, Itachi's main influence was none other than Shisui himself who also upset the company by running off and eloping with a woman in Kiri, thusly resulting in his immediate move. Luckily, Shisui was a large asset to the company and they could not afford to lose him so they offered him a deal of working at home just like Madara.

"Sorry I'm late," the recognizable deep baritone voice was familiar in every Uchihas' ears. "Let's get this meeting started, shall we Sasuke-kun?" Madara walked through the doors, grinning. A large majority of the people in the room stiffened. They wouldn't even dare mess with Madara, especially knowing the fact that he had many connections, dangerous ones. This was one of the very few times that Sasuke would ever mess with Madara.

…

Cardinal red eyes gleamed up at the large corporate building at a specific window that was lit up; the blinds haven't been drawn yet. Itachi narrowed his eyes from his vehicle in the back parking lot where it was remotely empty save for a few trucks that was meant for delivery or shipping merchandise. None of the Uchiha corporate workers would bother parking their cars in the back parking lot—it was too far of a walk to the main entrance and no one wanted to associate themselves as a blue collar worker.

Almost immediately, the blinds to the window were closed to the conference room and Itachi speed dialed Pein. "The meeting has begun. We have as long as Sasuke holds out the meeting. Head out to the address I have given you, retrieve her and get out as fast as possible."

"Understood," Pein muttered back through the phone. "You know the drill. Give us another call as soon as the conference is over and leave." The orange haired leader hung up, feeling anxious as ever. His grey ringed eyes set upon chocolate brown and sky blue ones and gave a nod. The plan was setting in motion fairly smoothly now as the three of them drove up the short distance towards Madara's home. Following behind them closely was Hidan and Kakuzu who promised to keep a look out from the outside while the three of them scoped out the inside. Kisame remained at the base in order to guard it from Zetsu if the cannibal dared set foot in the vicinity again.

"Don't be nervous, un," Deidara mumbled from the backseat as Sasori gave a curt nod in agreement. "You're never usually so strung up like this before."

"I haven't exactly regained _all_ of my memories."

The red haired man quietly pulled up a few blocks away from Madara's actual home in order to not raise any suspicion before sighing as he pulled the parking breaks. "Regardless. You remember enough for you to lead us this past week. You remember enough to actually care about bringing Haruno-san back," Sasori looked up at Pein with stern lazy looking eyes. "Don't screw this up. Stay focused. We get in, retrieve her and out. You're not the only one who cares about her, Pein. The Akatsuki has formed a personal bond to her regardless you or she remembers."

"And what will we do about Zetsu if he's guarding her?"

"If he happens to be there," Deidara grinned, "He'll go out with a _bang_."

…

_Technicolor filled her vision at the multifarious exhibits that were neatly aligned in rows. The subtle scent of ink, clay, paints, wood and metal scraps filled her senses as Sakura's emerald orbs scanned each row until she hit the back where some of the more impressive artworks were held. Sakura was never so interested in art until she learned that her newly made friend Sai was deeply involved in the art world and was quickly working his way up the ranks as being an artist. She came to his art exhibit and automatically saw why practically everyone marveled at the painted and sculpted figures. It was almost as if they were _alive_ and ready to move as soon as people looked away. _

_ "Sai," she turned to him, jade eyes glimmering in awe at all the work. "These are all beautiful…" _

_ The pale dark haired boy gave her one of his usual smiles that seemed eerie at first glance, but Sakura saw the tiniest hints of warmth in the creases of his closed eyes. "Thank you, Ugly. Your presence makes the art all the more aesthetic to the eye." Of course, there was always his… _odd_ way of communicating to people. _

_ She huffed a sigh and reminded herself to not take his name-calling so personally. She couldn't put blame on the poor boy who practically lacked a childhood under the adoptive care of Danzou before the foul political figure decided that he was useless and left him to fend for himself. It would explain his socially awkward tendencies and the ability of not knowing what to do in social situations, however he was gradually learning but she wasn't so sure if learning through books and articles was such a wise choice. "Well, it's getting a little late, but I should be heading back. It's Pein's turn to cook tonight and he promised me anmitsu for dessert!" she grinned, heading towards the door. _

_ "Would you like me to escort you home?" Sai asked, head tilted slightly in curiosity. "I have read that it is polite for the male to walk home a female after a date, especially if it is dark out."_

_ "A d-date?" she resisted smacking her forehead, but instead offered him an all-knowing smile, "It's more polite for you to stay here with your spectators and be a good art host. I'll be fine Sai, but it was kind of you to offer…" He shrugged and did as he was told while Sakura walked away, chuckling at his awkward tendencies. Deep down she wished his naivety never dissipated because she sometimes enjoyed the awkwardness the boy evoked; especially when he referred to Naruto as "dickless" or Sasuke as a "metro sexual pansy". _

_ Sakura silently chuckled to herself as she walked down the dark streets dimly lit with various broken street lights. There would be a slight hissing noise every so often followed by rattling. At first, she had thought it was a rattle snake, but shook her head from the crazy idea of a wild animal in the city streets. She swiveled her head to see two figures, one of them slightly taller than the other but both wore all black, hoodies pulled up so she could not see the face of either person. She was going to shout at them to stop whatever illegal thing they were doing until she saw the bright vivid colors splash out of their spray cans onto the already colored brick walls of the building. _

_ The blues contrasted with the reds in color but they formed a disarray of purple blotches in the center where it begins to swirl with flecks of white in them. From the top right corner, there was a light drab colored blue owl with wise golden eyes shooting blue from its beak as it stared into the bottom left corner where a golden eyed maroon scorpion lay crouching, red paint swirling from its curved stinger to meet the blue where they clashed in purple chaos. "Pass me the black paint with the medium brush will you? I fucked up the coloring of its wings, un." _

_ A grunt was his partner's response as he slid the small can of paint towards him, medium brush set on top. The voices broke Sakura out of her trance and her pale face broke into a wide grin, "Did you guys do this? All by yourselves?" _

_ The two figures stiffened as they slowly turned and all she could see were coffee brown eyes and sky blue ones that reminded hers of Naruto's. She stepped a little close to the two and saw the two men back up a little in caution. Finally, one of them spoke, "You're not going to report us to the police?"_

_ "For what?" Sakura asked curiously, pink head tilted almost forgetting that she was close to yelling at them earlier for graffiti. _

_ "Painting on property, un." _

_ Sakura grinned, "I normally would… But then the police would just have to wash or paint over this, right? This is beautiful though. It'd be a shame to have this gone." _

_ Both hoods fell down to reveal long blonde hair that tied up in a similar fashion as Ino's, but was much more messy with fly-aways and much longer bangs. "I'm Deidara, un." She recognized the man all right. He was the starter of the apartment fire from long ago. _

_ She turned to see the slightly shorter one who appeared very young but his wisdom and old age showed through his steely chocolate colored eyes. A hand ran through his messy short maroon locks as he introduced himself, "Sasori." _

_ "Sakura," she grinned, finally stepping closer to the two. "I've met you before Deidara-san. You were the one who started the fire." The blonde flinched and sucked in breath, holding both colorfully painted hands up as if surrendering himself to her. Her grin never faded, "That was a while ago Deidara-san. I don't hold grudges, and I see that you've got yourself a new hobby." Her hand gestured towards the painted wall. _

_ Sasori scoffed, "I'm not surprised Deidara was the one to start the fire. He's gone through enough therapy and finally stopped getting high off his ass after I introduced him to the beauty in art." The maroon haired man couldn't help but lift his nose slightly, as if confident in the fact that he transformed the ruined wreck that was once Deidara into an aspiring artist—but never as good as Sasori himself, of course. _

_ She turned to face Sasori and smiled, "And I thank you for that Sasori-san. Well, I won't interrupt your work any longer. Pein-kun, my roommate, is preparing dinner at home." _

_ "'Pein'?" Blue eyes perked up, "You know Pein? Man, he's our lea—"_

_ Sasori managed to cut Deidara off, "Friend. He's a good friend of ours. You must be Haruno-san then. He talks a lot about you during our get-togethers."They couldn't afford to let it slip that Pein was the leader of an infamous organization that was clearly misunderstood by many people. They couldn't afford to tell Sakura of course._

...

Emerald eyes flickered open to see the image of an owl and scorpion on a National Geographic magazine she held. Madara had sent her back and locked her in the guest room that soon became her bedroom. He mentioned something about a meeting with the company he worked for and he wasn't sure how long it would take, but that he would have Zetsu watch after her. The fact that the cannibalistic man was standing within the same building innervated her but he had reassured her that there was no way he would be able to come in the room without the key to the door, and that the man would not go as far as to disobeying him anyways. She was also reminded that while he could not go in, she could not leave either.

Thinking about the recollected memory, she looked back down at the animal images and resisted a sigh. The images blurred away as she heard large crashes from outside of her room she gave a startled jump before back into the furthest corner of her room, seeking comfort in the isolated area. She prayed that it wasn't Zetsu trying to break in, but the different voices outside told her otherwise.

…

Itachi was beginning to grow bored after staring at the covered windows for so long. Sasuke had not called back despite the fact that he saw many of the head branch leaders of the company walk out of the building out of the corner. Cardinal eyes gleamed and gave a tiny smirk. His little brother had managed to keep a few Uchiha in the room to discuss private matters, and knowing his best friend and cousin Shisui, the man would go on for hours with nothing but small talk and to catch up with the family. He wouldn't doubt that the Madara would eventually lose his patience and find an excuse to leave, but—

"Itachi?"

"Oto-san," _Shit._ Itachi quickly swiveled and turned to meet the familiar stern eyes of his father. It had been long time since he came face to face with his father again ever since he announced his stepping down and request of autonomy from the family. Red eyes took in every detail of his father's old aging face to the wrinkles that were beginning to develop. If his father looked so worn out, he couldn't imagine how his mother would be. The thought shook him up like a dead leaf tossed around inadvertently by the wind.

"What are you doing here?" Apparently his father's car had parked in the spot that had a clear view of the back. The question, for once, was actually a question and not a demand.

"Gathering some evidence for a new case I am currently working on," Itachi spoke, the lies coming out mellifluously. "It is classified information that I cannot speak of to the public." He hoped that his father would buy it.

Fugaku stared at him with eyes that portrayed an array of emotions unclear to Itachi. He felt like he was no longer staring at his father, but a completely different man. He couldn't put it in elaborate words of how he felt towards this strange situation. And, it kept getting stranger. "Join us for dinner, Itachi. Your mother still makes your favorite every Friday night, even when you are no longer home. Sasuke will be home as well."

Well, _that_ was unexpected. He was in complete shock that even the silent vibrations of his cell phone seemed to disappear in a dark void.

…

The noise outside soon became muffled and loud thump was heard, as if a limp body had crash landed onto the hard, polished wooden floors. Soon enough, grey ringed eyes met with surprised emerald green. It was as if time had forcefully stopped itself for the two people and had literally sucked all the breath out of their lungs and blew it back at their faces in a chilled motionless breeze. For a long time, Pein could not summon words to his lips as he continued staring into Sakura's equally speechless expression. _There she was._ Cherry blossom-like hair, porcelain skin with those same sea foam eyes that had smiled at him in his recollected memories—the same ones that also burned through his mind in glares.

"Pein," Sasori shouted, "Hurry up, grab her and let's get out. I'm not sure how long we have until Zetsu becomes conscious again, but I'd rather not take the risk." In the background, Deidara grunted in agreement with his red haired companion, silently peering through the window curtains to check up on the empty parking lot.

Sakura quickly snapped out of her stunned daze, bright green eyes darkened and she growled, "No."

"Wh-What?" Pein blinked several times in complete disbelief. Was he hearing correctly?

"You left me back there for a reason didn't you?" she hissed, backing up further if possible into the corner. "Madara-san has told me about your plans. He's told me enough to make me see you as nothing more than a delinquent—a stranger from my past."

"And you believe every word of that bastard?" he couldn't believe his ears. "You _trust_ the very man who tormented and threatened to kill you before in the past?" His throat felt rough, as if it were tightening up into knots made of sandpaper.

"At least he never attempted to kill me unlike you."

That _stung_. Her words pierced him a thousand times like rusted needles stabbing haphazardly into his very being. The gun. He remembered distinctly pointing it straight at her. Everything from there on afterwards was just a blurry nebulous of still forgotten memories. He narrowed his ringed eyes and looked back up at her, "Do you remember what happened afterwards, Sakura?"

"I—"

She was brusquely cut off by Hidan who stormed into the room in a flurry of panic and rage, "That motherfucker didn't fucking call us. That damn shit stain excuse of an Uchiha is _outside_. Fucking grab the girl and let's _GO_." He obviously hadn't felt the tension in the room between the two.

"Sakura—"

"I told you no."

"We need to—"

"There is no 'we' and there never was." She growled, stepping up towards him and pointed at Pein accusingly, "Madara told me who you are _Pein_, and I remember as well. I remembered from the moment you pointed that gun at me. You're the Akatsuki leader, the leader of a criminal organization. The same one that was involved in the plane hijacking that got both of my parents _killed_!" At this point, she was practically screaming at him, her emerald eyes darkening each passing second with fury and rage.

However, _that_ bit of information he never remembered. He didn't and couldn't recollect ever hijacking a plane. The Akatsuki took things far, but never to that extremity of endangering the lives of innocent people like that. His thoughts were immediately cut short after Kakuzu arrived within seconds, swiftly and painlessly knocking Sakura out from behind and hefted her onto his shoulder. Pein was about to protest until he heard, "Well, well. It looks like we've got some company this evening—some rather inconsiderate ones for knocking out my friend Zetsu here."

The tension in the closed room was thick and palpable with a sense of adrenaline coursing through every corner and angle. Madara's voice seemed distant but close enough to make everyone in the room still. "I hope you're keeping my Sakura-chan very good company, but unfortunately her day has been long and tiresome at the zoo." Footsteps grew nearer and Pein looked around to see only Hidan, Kakuzu and an unconscious Sakura slumped over his shoulder. Sasori and Deidara must have snuck away in time to escape Madara's notice.

Hastily looking around, he saw the window that was barely open to the outside revealing an urgent looking Kisame in the get-away vehicle who seemed to just arrive seconds ago. They would execute this escape plan flawlessly and quickly. He turned to gesture over towards the window, urging Kakuzu to go with Sakura first. The three men stood as close as they could towards the door, knowing that the noise of the window lifting would be enough for Madara's sharp ears to hear.

"You know Pein, I can completely understand why you have this infatuation for Sakura-chan," the deep baritone voice just seemed to creep closer and closer, the echoes of his footsteps reaching down further into the halls as he slowly approached the room.

_Three…_

"She's incredibly gullible, the poor girl," he chuckled, "Will believe anything that I tell her."

_Two…_ Pein could feel his heart pounding in his throat as his breath quickened.

"Why did you point the gun at her Pein?"

_One!_ The window slid open and Kakuzu leapt out the window safely with Sakura swaying over his shoulders followed by Hidan and then Pein. The events followed afterwards were nothing but a vivid blur as Hidan cursed up a storm in Kisame's car as the blue haired man started talking about Itachi's strange behavior when he arrived at the base, Kakuzu's complete silence, Sakura's unconscious form leaning against his body and Sasori's car following closely behind Kisame's with Deidara. All he could clearly remember was Madara's gleaming maroon eyes and his malevolent smirk through the silk curtains of the window they had escaped from. It was almost as if he allowed them to escape.

His breathing gradually relaxed as he turned his head slightly to see the pink crown of Sakura's head that rested against his shoulder. Despite the fact that the plan had worked with a little trouble, he still didn't feel right. Pein stared at Sakura's relaxed expression and only felt guiltier each passing moment. Her harsh and critical words still echoed in his thoughts, _"There is no 'we' and there never was."_

…

Itachi didn't understand what came over him when he accepted his father's dinner invitation. For months, years, he had been trying his best to avoid his family—particularly his father, Fugaku. The stern man had been raised in a tough life within the large Uchiha clan and was taught with precision and accuracy on how to behave properly. These lessons were soon relayed down to both him and eventually Sasuke.

He was happy to have his cousin Shisui in his life during the time of his stressful teenage years. He remembered distinctly what had caused his sudden change in attitude and switch in careers to pursue what _he_ wanted rather what his _father_ wanted. Mainly his goal was to protect Sasuke. Because Itachi was the eldest, Sasuke was always last—not second, but last and he saw how much that affected the young boy who deemed to protect since birth. Even hours of his mother's comforting and consoling, his baby brother would remain upset.

"_Self-sacrifice… A nameless hero who protects peace within its shadow… That is a true hero."_

Those had been Shisui's exact words that struck him so greatly to take action. He swore that he would protect Sasuke and so he would do so by giving him the best possible future he could offer—his own.

"Aniki," Soft red eyes blinked and looked up next to his seat at the dinner table to see Sasuke giving him a pointed look. Sasuke continued, "I've been calling your name for the past few minutes to pass the okonomiyaki."

Quickly processing this request, he complied and handed Sasuke the traditional vegetable dish, muttering a low apology. The silence was once again foreign to him due to the fact that dinners with his friend and current roommate Kisame was quite loud, especially when he was drunk. However, despite the silence, he could sense his mother's glee at having both of her sons at the dinner table once again. His previous thoughts were correct when he observed his mother; the lines on her face was more prominent and some strands of her hair were beginning to grey considerably. The dinner was surprisingly peaceful.

"Itachi," it was his father. Perhaps he spoke too soon when he thought 'peaceful'. "Tell me, what have you been doing with this… job of yours?"

"I am doing well on my own," Itachi made sure to add the last three words. He thought about speaking further about his successes, but chose not to. If he remembered the way his father was, then it would be wise to keep things short and ambiguous.

However, Fugaku did not back down. "The political world isn't so easy is it?" This was when Sasuke's shoulders visibly stiffened and Mikoto began to give a small frown. "You could have had a much better life if you stayed here Itachi."

_So this is what the dinner was about._ Hastily wiping his mouth with the napkin he kept at his lap, Itachi began to scoot out of his chair and stood up. "If this is what this dinner is about, then I apologize for intruding. Thank you for your courteous invitation."

By the time he was more than half way down the hall after exiting the dining room, he was called to a quick halt at the sound of his father's voice. He had learned by now to resist his father's cries and shouts, but he stopped because the voice he heard did not sound like the stubborn man his father was. If he could describe his father as any animal, it would be a gruff grizzly bear. The man that he was staring at now was nothing more than a harmless wounded old dog. His name came out gentle, soft and it almost sounded desperate. "Itachi," Fugaku said again, taking slow strides towards his son who finally began to turn.

They were finally face to face, Itachi having to look down slightly in order to keep eye contact with him. Soft sobs could be heard from within a distance that must have been his mother who was currently being consoled and comforted by Sasuke. After a long period of silence, Itachi grew restless from the lingering nerves and spoke, "I was unaware this dinner was about my—"

"It's not." Well, this was certainly surprising. Fugaku continued, "I am growing old, Itachi, and so is your mother as you have seen." Itachi only nodded. Soon, coughs erupted from his father and they evolved to hacking up spots of blood onto his wrinkling hands. This startled Itachi to gently patting his father's back as the coughing and hacking eased up. He continued on with a scratchy voice, "This body can't take much more Itachi."

"What are you trying to say, Oto-san?"

"Please do not ever think badly of me, Itachi. I forced things upon you such as the position to the company because I wanted to ensure your future was bright." At this point, the sobbing in the dining room had dissipated and Sasuke was leaning against the open door to the hall after putting his tired mother to rest in her room, listening in on the conversation he was anticipating to hear his father give to his older brother. Fugaku acknowledged Sasuke quickly before turning back to Itachi and continued, "Never take anything cruel I have said to you to heart Itachi. I am not good with words, but know that everything I did was for your benefit."

The weasel narrowed his eyes at the words. "And what of Sasuke? What of your second son?"

"The company had many positions open—"

"None are as good as the one that Sasuke now holds." He argued back.

At this, Fugaku could only give a slow chuckle, "You take my words to heart too seriously when I told you to protect and watch over your little brother."

"I have always taken your words to heart." Itachi was confused. This was very much unlike his father to be so open about this entire ordeal. There was so much that was happening, it was inundating and going by too quickly for his comfort. He was a simple man with simple needs and he had always assumed he got that trait from his simple but arrogant father. "Of all the times, why are you telling me this now?"

His father gentle patted his chest where his heart was, "This body won't last, and my heart is failing. The doctors have told me that I have a weak heart. They're even surprised I'm still standing." The coughing ensued, but he continued speaking, "Itachi, the way we think is different… But, I am still very proud of you."

Itachi's jaws tensed before he hefted out a sigh, "Oto-san, you need to go to the hospital right now." His father's coughing continued on relentlessly as Sasuke received a look from his brother to call the hospital when blood was beginning to be vomited onto the floor.

Minutes passed as Itachi slowly brought his slouched over father to the living room couch next to the trash can with a box of tissues to wipe away the bloody mess. His words still have not echoed out of his head during the entirety of what was going on from the ambulance arriving to the paramedics putting his father onto a sling. He followed them into the ambulance towards the hospital, telling Sasuke to stay behind and inform mother of the situation. His father was a strong man—he would make it through this. As the ambulance drove quickly drove off, his father continued to hold onto Itachi's hand tightly as the paramedics rushed to give him an IV line. Again, from there, everything was a massive blur.

It wasn't until he was in a hospital room with his groggy stabilized father that he was thinking clearly again. Many nurses began ushering visitors out of hospital rooms, claiming that visiting hours were over, but chose to give the two Uchihas an extra few minutes or so due to the abrupt arrival.

His father slowly looked up at Itachi and repeated again, "The way we think is different, but I'm still proud of you, Itachi… You truly are a gentle child."

Itachi was silenced into thinking about what to say. He was never good with words himself either despite being a lawyer. He was by no means an emotionless, stoic man that everyone assumed he was due to his always blank expressions, but he wasn't overly emotional either. He just couldn't voice how he was feeling—especially at complicated emotions such as these. He could only give his father a look that told him everything of how he was feeling and gave a gentle smile, "Rest well tonight, Oto-san."

Silently exiting the hospital room, Sasuke was rushing towards Itachi's side, glancing into the small hospital door window to see his father already resting inside. "How is he? Will he be okay?"

"Ah," Itachi glanced into the tiny window and gave Sasuke one of his genuine small grins, "Oto-san is a stubborn but strong man. He will make it through this alive."

"What will happen now, aniki?" Sasuke asked, a fine eyebrow rose in curiosity as he looked up to his brother.

Itachi pondered upon the question for a moment before answering, "You and I are flesh and blood. I'm always going to be there for you, even if it's only as an obstacle for you to overcome. Even if you do hate me. That's what big brothers are for."

"Sometimes I don't understand you."

"The only time you will ever understand me, Sasuke, is when I am dying."

* * *

I'm so sorry about the late update—but hey! This is much longer than my previous chapters. This chapter has two names, because I typed a lot about Itachi's origin/motivation/past, thus giving the chapter a second title of "A Gentle Child". Also, a much appreciated thank you to **funbunny99** and **Amaya and Aiko no Akatsuki** for being the only two reviewers for last chapter. ;-; Thank you for your patronage.

I hope you guys enjoyed Itachi's part as much as you did Sakura's/Pein's part. I used actual quotes of what Itachi and Fugaku said—Fugaku being proud and calling Itachi a gentle child, and what Itachi said to Sasuke about being brothers. I honestly found myself almost crying as I read the biography for Fugaku and Itachi.

My reason for writing up Itachi's part is because I don't want this fanfiction to solely JUST focus on PeinSaku. The world is not black and white—so throughout the rest of the chapters, I will incorporate the past of the other Akatsuki members and such. I also thoroughly enjoyed writing the Sasori/Deidara/Itachi parts anyways :)

**Next update will be (hopefully) by next Saturday (8/17).** (Band caaaaaaaamp weeeeeeek)


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